Job summary

Derbyshire Pathology provides pathology services for Royal Derby Hospital, Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Queen's Hospital, Burton (since October 2021) and is hosted by University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation.

If you would relish a challenge in becoming a Medical Laboratory Assistant in Microbiology, then we would love to hear from you. This is a full time role Monday to Friday and weekend/ bank holiday working is also essential.

You must have an interest in science, be self-confident, proactive and highly motivated. You must possess a wide range of skills demonstrating good numeracy and literacy, a high standard of verbal and written English, keyboard data entry skills and attention to detail is essential.

The successful applicant will support the Biomedical Scientists by performing a wide variety of tasks associated with the processing of samples. Duties vary between departments and include the sorting, preparation, processing and handling of blood, urine, tissue and bodily fluids.

Main duties of the job

You will also be required to perform data entry onto the laboratory computer system, undertake housekeeping duties, maintenance of equipment and disposal of clinical waste therefore the ability to multi-task and work flexibly is essential.

You will be working as part of the Derbyshire Pathology Service within the Microbiology Laboratory based at Royal Derby Hospital.

• To work in an effective and efficient way following the appropriate Trust and directorate policies, procedures and guidelines including the departmental Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• To prepare and process patient specimens including -
• Preparation of urine samples for microscopy
• Preparation of mycology specimens for microscopy
• Inoculation of patient specimens onto culture media for incubation
• Separation of blood samples and setting up of tests
• Processing of swabs for screening tests
• Performing specimen reception tasks including the accurate entry of patient/specimen details onto the departmental computer system maintaining a valid database.

Maintaining and supporting the effective use of available resources (equipment and stock) in an efficient way.

Closing date of applications: 15 October 2026

Interview date: 29 October 2026

About us

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

In return we will offer:

• Development opportunities, both professional and leadership development
• On-going support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes

Key Facts:

• We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day.
• We are the 4th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England - an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day - 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.
• UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff.