Job description
Maidstone Hospital, situated in the heart of the Kent countryside, covers a large population and includes the regional Oncology centre which is expanding in support of the Kent cancer network. The Histology department provides services for Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trusts, Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust. Consequently there is a combined Histology workload of around 70,000 cases per year. The department carries out a wide range of investigations including various specialist resections from hospitals within the Kent & Medway. The department moved to a custom built new facility in May 2011. It is computerised and well equipped. Career development and participation in CPD are actively encouraged. Applications are invited for the post of Medical Laboratory Assistant . This post would suit an enthusiastic and self-motivated person with good interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team. Good hand eye coordination and attention to detail are essential requirements. This post would suit candidates with an interest in laboratory diagnostics, particularly those looking to start a career in Biomedical Sciences within the NHS. Please note that this is for a fixed term contract of 12 months Kent and Medway Pathology Network Working for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust you will be part of the Kent and Medway Pathology Network (South 8 network). Kent and Medway Pathology Network is made up of seven laboratories across three pathology services in four acute Trusts – East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and North Kent Pathology Services (hosted by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and providing services to Medway Foundation Trust). The network provides services across the health sector to a population of nearly 2 million. The network vision is based around: A single laboratory information management system (LIMS) and managed services contract (MSC); A Director of Pathology Transformation who will work closely with teams and services to design and implement service changes which benefit the whole network; A commitment to consider a single management structure at a point in the future; and, A general agreement to collaborate, and to align processes and Standard Operating Procedures where it makes sense to do so. You will not be expected to work at sites outside of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. However, there will be opportunities for collaborative working within this network Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust in the county of Kent. The Trust provides a full range of general hospital services and some areas of specialist complex care to around 500,000 people living in the south part of West Kent and the north part of East Sussex. The Trust’s core catchment areas are Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells and their surrounding boroughs. We work from two main clinical sites: Maidstone Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury. Tunbridge Wells Hospital opened in 2011 and provides single rooms with en-suites for all in-patients – the first of its kind in the country. We employ over 6,500 full and part-time staff in a huge range of clinical and non-clinical roles across both of our hospital sites. Once your pre-employment checks have been completed you will be contacted by Recruitment to arrange your start date which will be in line with one of our Corporate Inductions. We are passionate in supporting our staff to develop and have great opportunities for career progression. We take equality and diversity seriously and seek to empower all diverse groups within our trust. We seek to develop a culture where diversity in all its forms is celebrated. We are committed to ensuring that women are empowered to work at all levels of management and that working patterns are as flexible as possible giving all members of staff opportunity to flourish in using their skills for our patients. We work across our trust to enable those who consider themselves to have a disability both visible and invisible to have access to all they need to thrive in their work environment. We work hard to embed an inclusive and accepting culture for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary staff. We have 78 nationalities working in our trust and we are proud of this. We are active in embracing the ethnic and cultural diversity in our trust. We work to empower people with any protected characteristic to have opportunities to work in an environment that helps them to contribute to the best of their ability, recognising and valuing the unique contributions each of us brings for best quality care and service to our patients. We are committed to supporting the delivery of the Equality Act with zero tolerance for any discrimination, harassment or victimisation of applicants and staff with these protected characteristics. MTW also has active Disability, LGBT+ and Cultural Ethnic Minorities Networks to bring staff together and in act positive change!