Senior Specialist Anatomical Pathology Technologist

The Mortuary and Bereavement Service consists of APTs, both qualified and trainees, Bereavement Officers, a Mortuary Assistant and administrative staff, working closely with Consultant and Junior Histopathologists from Cellular Pathology.
This department sits within the Directorate of Haematology, Cellular Pathology and Supporting Services. The Cellular Pathology laboratories and its scientific staff are managed independently by GSTS Pathology (Viapath). There are two mortuaries, one at Guy's and another at St Thomas' Hospital. St Thomas' acts as the main mortuary and is the site for all post-mortem examinations and related activity., This is a senior post for an experienced Specialist Anatomical Pathology Technologist (APT) who holds both the Certificate & Diploma of Anatomical Pathology Technology or the Level 3 Diploma in Anatomical Pathology technology with relevant, extensive and demonstrable experience. As a Specialist Senior APT in the Mortuary and Bereavement Service (MBS) the post holder is expected to support both junior and senior staff, work as part of a team on a rotational basis within all specialities of Mortuary and Bereavement work and rotate between Guy's and St Thomas', and be able to assist in specialist post mortems, including paediatrics and high risk cases., Scientific and Technical
PM Room
To assist the Pathologist with post-mortem examinations:
Specialist practical mortuary skills - Paediatric/perinatal, forensic, neuropathological, high risk, CBRNe, PEACE cases
+ Be careful to carry out specialist PM examinations and techniques
o Specialist evisceration techniques (middle ear, spinal cord, eyes)
o Specialist reconstruction techniques (significant trauma, decomposition, paediatric/perinatal)
+ To ensure the post-mortem room and equipment is prepared for all types of post-mortem examinations.
+ To take, process and store digital images (photographic and radiology) as part of the post-mortem examination.
+ Too assist the pathologist during histological cut up sessions following fixation of tissue samples after the post-mortem examination.
+ To assist in the basic and advanced training of junior staff, both practical and theoretical:
o To oversee and assist both internal and external Junior Pathologists on a day-to-day basis as part of their training programme
o To oversee and assist Junior APTs on a day-to-day basis
o To prepare and deliver training programmes for Trainee APTs according to the Level 3 Diploma in APT standards and requirements.
o To deliver high quality PM demonstrations to medical students and non-medical relevant parties (police, emergency services first responders, armed forces etc)
+ To assist and ensure thorough cleaning and disinfection of all tools and surfaces in the PM rooms after the day's examinations are complete.
+ To maintain equipment on a day-to-day basis in accordance with department policies/procedures and in accordance with manufacturer's guidelines.
+ To receive and book in external histology.
Leadership
+ To support the mortuary manager in leading the service, in training staff, attending and representing the service as Trust meetings, auditing mortuary practice and promoting the quality agenda in the service.
Clinical and Clerical
+ To ensure patients are accurately received into the mortuary, with correct identifying information, registered, weighed, measured.
+ To be responsible for the release and transfer of patients from the unit to the authorised person for collection.
+ To book viewings and, when necessary, accompany and assist the bereaved in the mortuary visitors room.
+ To prepare and layout patients for viewing, including high-risk cases.
+ To carry out cleaning and dressing of patients as required.
+ To accompany visitors and facilitate official identifications on behalf of HM Coroner.
+ To ensure that the bereaved are supported and treated with courtesy and consideration at all times.
+ To ensure accurate records of patients' property are maintained.
+ To assist the Mortuary and Bereavement Service Manager/Chief APT plan work schedules and staff allocation to tasks.
+ To give both basic and specialist lectures to groups who attend the Mortuary and Bereavement Service and throughout the hospital.
+ To co-ordinate the provision of hospital funerals for Non-Viable foetuses and POCs, ensuring documentation is complete and that funerals can take place in a timely manner.
+ To facilitate the release of NVFs/POCs/HTA relevant material directly to next-of-kin when required.
+ To oversee the monitoring of patient condition and mortuary capacity.
+ To monitor and escalate long-term patients to the appropriate department (bereavement centre staff, local council authority, referring establishment or funeral director as appropriate).
+ Monitor the referral system for external post-mortem examinations (hospital consented paediatric/perinatal cases, coronial/forensic paediatrics, coronial adults and PEACE patients) and managing bookings for x-ray examinations when appropriate.
+ Maintain in-depth, up-to-date working knowledge of The HT Act and its relation to mortuary practice
o Understanding consent forms for hospital PMs, with particular attention to SANDS forms
o Understanding consent for retention/disposal of relevant material received from coroner's offices after PM examination
+ Carry out disposal of retained material as per the Nok wishes, following laboratory tracking protocol.
+ Deliver consent training to clinicians.
+ Take consent for adult hospital PM examinations.
Informatics
+ To ensure that records are kept up to date and stored safely to ensure compliance with good work practices for the standards of the HTA Codes of Practice and ISO 9001 2015 standards.
+ To comply with local and national policies for the safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other mortuary information.
+ To use the departments information databases according to the authorised protocols.
+ To maintain the integrity and accuracy of IT systems, written MBS records and databases.
Procurement
+ To ensure staff maintain adequate stocks of consumables and chemicals for MBS.
+ To maintain adequate stocks of consumables for MBS Major Incident store.
+ Monitor and purchase equipment and consumables for routine and specialist post-mortem work.
+ Maintain adequate consumables for use with the cremation and burial of babies/POCs.
+ Ensure timely payment of invoices for maintenance/contact work.
Training and Development
+ To be responsible for his/her continuing professional development.
+ To comply with departmental training support policies.
+ To keep up-to-date with current Mortuary and Bereavement practices and guidance from the Health and Safety Executive and any other professional bodies e.g. Human Tissue Authority and DoH.
+ To ensure lessons are learned from post-event analysis, proactive risk assessments and timely dissemination.
+ To provide specialist advice and support on a range of human tissue, Mortuary and Bereavement issues.
+ To complete all annual mandatory training sessions as set out by the Trust.
+ Assist with training of departmental and portering staff.
+ Deputise for Chief APT and/or mortuary manager as required if instructed.
+ Deliver education and training relating to mortuary practice to Trust staff.
+ Deputise for the Chief APT at Trust committee meetings if required.
Out of Hours Service
+ There is a paid on-call service in operation, which offers advice and assistance to the bereaved and hospital and outside staff 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year.
+ The post holder must attend the mortuary on request of the Mortuary and Bereavement Service manager in the event of a major incident being declared. On request/necessity all staff must attend the mortuary in the quickest time possible and must be prepared to stay until the hospital has been "stood down" from major incident status.
+ The portering staff will not prepare a high-risk patient for viewing; the Deputy APT must attend the mortuary, prepare the patient and following a viewing return the patient to storage.
+ If required, arrange for staff to attend the mortuary out of hours.
+ The post holder may be required to attend the mortuary to facilitate a forensic/Home Office post-mortem examination. The APT may be called to assist with limited notice and must be prepared to attend the mortuary until the post-mortem examination is finished. The Duty APT will be responsible for calling another APT to assist.
Health and Safety
+ To adhere to all departmental and Mortuary health and safety regulations and policies.
+ To oversee and assist in regular review and change of protocols and policies.
+ Ensure staff adherence to Trust and local policies and report any non compliance or licensing breach to the relevant line manager.
+ To oversee and assist in carrying out various types of risk assessments within the service.
+ To ensure all legislation in relation to Bereavement, Mortuary and post-mortem services are strictly adhered to.
+ To keep the workplace and work areas clean and tidy.
+ To oversee and assist with the disinfection of the post-mortem rooms, including drains, on a daily basis.
Quality
+ Maintain specialist knowledge of the HTA Codes of Practice, ISO 9001 2015 standards and the BSI Rules and Guidance.
+ Responsible for assisting with the production of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Policies for MBS, in collaboration with team managers.
+ Ensure continued performance against the departmental Quality Objectives.
+ To assist the Mortuary and Bereavement Service Manager in maintaining high quality standards within the department.
+ To be responsible for and participate in clinical audits.
Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
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Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.