Specialist Biomedical Scientist

Overview

The Neuropathology Department provides a neuropathology and ocular pathology service to aid diagnosis and management of patients through appropriate analytical assessment. The service is offered to the clinicians of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to region and supra-regional hospitals and supports a service to HM Coroners in Oxford and the region. In addition, we provide a full interpretive and consultative national and international referral service.

We are involved in the education and training of laboratory, clinical and other appropriate staff in matters pertinent to neuropathology. As a small team, we are supportive, focused and provide a patient-centric service. We work closely with teams outside the department, so that we can get a better understanding of the wider clinical picture. The department encourages CPD and ongoing training and education relevant to the role.

• Undertakes scientific duties to facilitate the smooth running of the routine surgical and post-mortem services.
• Prepares samples using a range of specialist laboratory procedures, by either manual or automated techniques, to produce results of a quality consistent with excellent patient care. Undertakes these duties in all required areas of the department under the supervision of senior staff.
• Ensures efficient use and maintenance of resources, is aware of stock levels and rotation, storage conditions, batch numbers and expiry dates, thus ensuring the viability of the reagents and / or products used.
• Exercises a degree of autonomy but refers to senior staff and works in co-operation with other staff members to ensure that the workload is processed in a timely and efficient manner, assessing samples for urgency and ensuring samples meet acceptance criteria for testing and dealing with any non-compliance in accordance with departmental protocols.
• Works to gain competence in all departmental policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), ensuring that personal performance complies with UKAS and other professional standards.
• Carries out troubleshooting and preventative maintenance on complex and expensive automated systems. Ensures appropriate records are kept and liaises with senior staff and service engineers where appropriate.
• Matches samples with request forms and inputs patient and test information into the laboratory computer system, requiring complete accuracy.