Job Title: Specialist Medical Scientist
Reports to: Chief Medical Scientist and Consultant Histopathologists.
Location: Histopathology
Job Purpose: The fundamental philosophy guiding this position is to promote and preserve the Bon Secours Mission, Values and Ethos. To initiate and lead service developments embracing continuous quality improvement and the management of changes necessary to achieve organisational goals.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Leadership and Accountability:
In collaboration with the Chief Medical Scientist, the Consultant Histopathologists, the scientific team, and clinical users, responsibilities include:
- To manage and develop the Histopathology service.
- Provide strategic and clinical leadership which results in the delivery of effective, efficient, quality assured and user centred service.
- Develop a shared sense of commitment and participation among staff in the development of the service.
- Keep the laboratory management appraised of any significant development within his/her area of responsibility and perform such additional duties as may be assigned from time to time
- Identify professional training requirements of laboratory staff as appropriate to the delivery of a quality laboratory medicine service
- Identify in-house training requirements for scientific and clinical staff
- Responsible for maintaining high standards of professional practice by scientific and other staff as appropriate
Scientific / Professional
- Support the delivery of a high-quality service to the patient that is adherent to and compliant with all applicable standards and statutes, including ISO15189:2022.
- Engage in and support development initiatives and research activities that serve to update and expand technologies, explore new and innovative methodologies, and continually improve and modernise the offering to the patient
- Be responsible for the daily operation and performance of specialised services, ensuring internal and external measures of quality are in place to monitor the success of the offering / through audit
- Cooperate with the Chief Medical Scientist, Consultants, other Department leads, and Service Users within a broader laboratory and hospital environment to ensure the service provided matches user requirements and supports the clinical needs of the patient.
- Work with clinical, scientific, and other colleagues to generate, update and sustain a vision for the service and to formulate strategy
Operations and Planning: (key objectives will be set on an annual basis)
- To perform his/her duties under the general direction of the Consultant Histopathologists and the Chief Medical Scientist.
- To carry out all duties of a Specialist Medical Scientist in the laboratory and take appropriate responsibility for the scientific work in the assigned section of the laboratory.
- To occasionally deputise for the Chief Medical Scientist in his/her absence.
- To participate in the development and implementation of information technology applications in the laboratory.
- To interpret results of analysis to meet international guidelines.
- To maintain and enhance his/her technical skills and knowledge and keep up to date with relevant new developments in their field of work.
- To carry out method development and implementation of new techniques.
- To identify collaborative projects with scientists and clinicians to foster and develop Research & Development within the department
- Conducting and implementing findings from Best Practice audits
- To participate in equipment selection in conjunction with the Chief Medical Scientist
- To provide direct operational service within the section of the laboratory to which he/she is attached and where appropriate, to provide direct maintenance of the equipment.
- To liaise with the Chief Medical Scientist to ensure a safe working environment is maintained and safe working practices are complied with
- To liaise with medical staff on diagnostic issues and problems and attend at case conferences to present laboratory findings
- To present the work of the department and developments in the various fields as appropriate.
- To ensure adequate supplies of reagents and consumables are maintained in the section and that the most efficient use is made of them
- To maintain logs of all equipment in the section, ensure regular preventative maintenance is carried out and liaise with equipment manufacturers on maintenance issues in conjunction with the Chief Medical Scientist.
Personnel Management:
- Lead in developing training material for scientific and clinical staff.
- Promote Continuing Professional Development through the organisation of seminars and workshops.
- To participate in the in-service training of student medical scientists and in the training of new scientific and medical staff.
- To supervise undergraduate and postgraduate student projects.
- To perform such other duties appropriate to the office as may be assigned to him/her by Hospital Management through the Chief Medical Scientist.
Finance:
- Ensure, in collaboration with the Chief Medical Scientist and Laboratory Manager, that expenditure is controlled within budget and identify potential for efficiency savings through improved practices and innovation.
Quality Assurance:
- To monitor and troubleshoot internal and external quality control procedures.
- To monitor quality indicator including EQA and Turnaround times.
- Management of non-conformances and change controls.
To participate in the writing of SOPs and in any other duties required securing and maintaining laboratory accreditation including Organising participation in inter and intra-laboratory schemes when required, Validation / verification of new processes including new equipment existing antibodies and special stains as required, Building and analysing monthly NQAIS report and Datawarehouse reports of turnaround times Follow up on monthly outstanding list
- To review maintenance of relevant equipment.
- To participate in the preparation of annual reports and other documentation as appropriate.
- To familiarise him/herself with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Safety Statements of the department.
- To ensure that all work is carried out to a high standard, always adhering to SOPs.
Risk Management
- Participate in risk management to ensure all processes are risk assessed in accordance with the National Health and Safety Function and manage those risks, mitigating where possible or escalating if necessary.
- Contribute to necessary preparations to foresee service failures and plan contingency measures accordingly (such as those required by surges in service demand, power outages, problems with the computer systems, analyser downtime, implementing the Major Emergency Plan etc.).
- Handle feedback relating to the service as required, including responding appropriately to advisory notices from regulatory authorities.
Safety, Health & Welfare at Work
- Provide a safe working environment that is compliant with relevant Health and Safety legislation and with the Hospital Safety Statement, where staff are empowered to deliver the required service to the best of their ability
- Provide a working environment that stimulates and motivates staff and attracts and retains the best people
- Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role for example, Standards for Healthcare, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc and comply with associated HSE protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role
- Support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service
Key Performance Criteria:
- Method development and implementation of new techniques
- Completion of collaborative projects with scientists and clinicians to foster and develop Research & Development within the department
- Proof of conducting and implementing findings from Best Practice audits
- Proof of preparation and updating of training material for scientific and clinical staff
- Proof of leading in Continuing Professional Development through the organisation of seminars and workshops
- Satisfactory performance in EQA schemes.
- The extent to which there is user satisfaction with services.
- The extent to which good working relationships are fostered and maintained.
- The effectiveness of performance in relation to personnel management and development.
- The quality and standard of laboratory services.
- The maintenance of Accreditation certification
- The extent to which service plan objectives have been achieved.
- The above job description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
Qualifications
Candidates for appointment must
Possess:
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Medical Science from the Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). Or
Bachelor of Science (Honours) Biomedical Science, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). Or
Bachelor in Science Honours degree in Biomedical Science from the Joint University College Cork – Cork Institute of Technology course AND Diploma in Clinical Laboratory Practice. Or
Certificate in Medical Laboratory Science, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) or Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) AND Bachelor in Science (Applied Science) Honours degree (Biomedical option) from the University of Dublin/Dublin Institute of Technology (Awarded prior to 2002). Or
Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) AND BSc (Honours) Biomedical Sciences, University College Cork (UCC). (Awarded prior to 2013). Or Diploma in Medical Laboratory Sciences of the Dublin Institute of Technology, (DIT) or the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) (Awarded prior to 1994). Or
Certificate in Medical Laboratory Science awarded before 1997 by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) or Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). Or
An equivalent qualification validated by the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine (ACSLM).
And
Possess one of the following NFQ Level 9 post graduate qualifications or equivalent qualification at minimum Level 9 validated by the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine;
MSc Clinical Laboratory Science, Dublin Institute of Technology.
MSc Clinical Chemistry, University of Dublin, Trinity College.
MSc Biomedical Science, University of Ulster.
MSc Biomedical Science, Cork Institute of Technology / University College Cork.
MSc Molecular Pathology, Dublin Institute of Technology / University of Dublin, Trinity College. Or
Have attained the Fellowship examination of the Institute of Biomedical Science (Awarded prior to 1999). And
Possess four years full time clinical experience (or an aggregate of four years’ clinical experience) as a medical scientist in a clinical diagnostic laboratory since qualifying as a medical scientist.
Demonstrate evidence of Continuous Professional Development.
Demonstrate knowledge and experience in the appropriate specialist area
Candidates must have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard of suitability and management ability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office. Must be registered with CORU or eligible for membership upon completion of study or in the process of applying for state registration, see
https://www.coru.ie/about-us/registration-boards/medicalscientists-registration-board/apply-for-registration
Experience
- Specialist knowledge and experience within the clinical and scientific areas of Histopathology with expertise in novel or advanced techniques in one or more of the key areas: Immunohistochemistry, Histodissection, Cytology.
- Experience in research and development.
- Knowledge of the ISO 15189 quality management system.
- Demonstrate a high degree of skill and attention to detail within scientific area of Histology.
- Knowledge of best practice guidelines and protocols in laboratory medicine.
- Excellent IT skills.
Essential Skills
Communication.
- Creates a culture of open communication to maintain a climate of trust and honesty
- Adopts a range of communication techniques as appropriate to explain complex information
- Facilitates two-way communication between conflicting parties
- Delivers presentations to groups with confidence and credibility
- Supports ideas with appropriate research and information to persuade others
Quality and Safety
- Empowers staff to provide quality of service; ensures regular quality audits are carried out and findings are actioned and followed through.
- Champions initiatives to improve quality of services
- Promotes and enables a culture of safety
- Involves others in building solutions which promote safer, better healthcare
Leadership
- Challenges traditional assumptions and champions new initiatives
- Inspires action in others and the achievement of the operational/change plan
- Takes ownership and leads by example
CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS 13TH JUNE 2025
BON SECOURS HOSPITAL DUBLIN IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER
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