An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Deputy Lead Anatomical Pathology Technician to join our team on a Full Time Permanent basis.

Anatomical Pathology Technicians work with the coroner’s officer and the pathologist to ensure that the post-mortem workflow is maintained following the current policies and procedures.

Assisting the pathologists by preparing the post-mortem room and the deceased for post-mortem. Supporting the bereavement service by preparing the deceased for viewing and maintaining good communication with bereaved families.

Deceased are received from the Trust and from the community and thorough ID checks of all Patient identification data is essential during receipt and release procedures.

The team works together to deliver a service which enables high standards of care, maintaining good working relations with all staff, promoting effective teamwork and the professional image of the mortuary service within the Trust.

Interview Date - Week commencing 30th September 2024

The post holder will be responsible for assisting the mortuary section lead with the smooth day-to-day running of the mortuaries within Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. They will help to ensure that the workflow and turnaround of all post-mortem work is maintained in a timely manner whilst maintaining a high quality service.

To carry out routine and advanced post-mortem procedures. Prepare deceased for viewing, occasionally reconstruction is necessary and good communication with bereaved families essential.

Deceased are received from the Trust and the community and checking the validity of all patients’ details is necessary.

APT’s perform, under the auspices of the coroner and medical staff, a post-mortem service delivering high standards of care, maintaining good working relations with all service users, promoting effective team working and the professional image of the Anatomical Pathology service within the Trust.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:
Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:
Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

KEY DUTIES

TECHNICAL

Ensure all duties are carried out in compliance with the Human tissue authority (HTA) codes of practice.
To supervise receipt, storage and release of the deceased completing associated documentation in compliance with current policies.
Ensure awareness and compliance of patient confidentiality in all grades of staff.
Ensure all unidentified deceased are appropriately identifiable once identity has been established.
Liaise with the Trust Bereavement Officers, assisting them in the functions of the service dealing with bereaved families.
Assist, the Coroners Officers and carry out their instructions with regards to all deceased bodies in their remit.
To assist with hospital post-mortems on the instruction of the Consultant Histopathologists or other medical staff.
To assist with post-mortems carried out at the instruction of H M Coroner under the arrangements made with St. Helens & Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Trust.
To perform, under supervision of the Consultant Pathologist, relevant post-mortem procedures on patients which are in an advanced state of mechanical disruption or decomposition/infestation.
To prepare the deceased for viewing in a sensitive and respectful manner demonstrating awareness of religious requirements subject to individual risk assessment
Carry out surgical evisceration, and patient reconstruction processes in the post-mortem suite in accordance with mortuary policies to enable identification for Police, viewings for relatives and dignified collection from funeral directors.
Carry out routine and advanced post-mortem procedures including specialist techniques e.g. removal of spinal cord, middle ear & pituitary were requested by a consultant histopathologist.
Ensure effective reconstruction and cosmetic presentation of bodies following extreme trauma e.g. Road traffic accident, suicide and persons hit by trains etc.
Perform invisceration of organs and suturing of bodies at the request of the Consultant Histopathologist or other medical staff on hospital and Coroners post-mortems.
Ensure that all tissues taken during post-mortem for histological diagnosis are taken according to consent information provided by the coroner.
Remove cardiac implants when required by the hospital and clean them prior to disposal.
Liaise with the tissue bank teams and assist in the harvest of tissues in line with current Trust agreements, protocols, and consent.
Liaise with the Bereavement Office and funeral directors in respect of sensitive disposal of fetal remains in line with departmental and Trust policies.
To assist in the system for the receipt, handling, and disposal of Products of Conception from the Gynae and Midwifery Services at ODGH
Ensure that high standards of cleanliness and tidiness are always maintained in the department in accordance with departmental SOPs and HSE guidelines.
To maintain equipment on a day-to-day basis in accordance with policies/procedures and in accordance with manufacturer’s guidelines
Report equipment fault or incidents to the Mortuary manager or in his/her absence the Cellular Pathology manager.
Maintain and control adequate supplies of instruments, stores, linen and consumables.
To ensure that suitable personal protective clothing and equipment is available for staff and visitors.
Keep up to date with relevant scientific information, trends, and developments to assist in the maintenance and development of mortuary procedures.
Maintain an ongoing Professional Portfolio and an up-to-date Professional Development Plan.
Provide advice upon the handling of bodies contaminated by way of infection, infestation, or radiation.
Assist the Mortuary Section Lead with the writing, implementing, and reviewing departmental policies, procedures, and protocols.
Work with the Mortuary Section Lead to achieve and maintain full accreditation status with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and compliance with the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) ensuring all required documentation relating to equipment, maintenance, training and test procedures are in place
Assist the Mortuary Section Lead in maintaining a safe and secure mortuary environment by monitoring access to the mortuary in accordance with departmental policy and current Health & Safety Legislation Guidance.

OUT OF HOURS

Take an active role in the out of hours service of the department, duties performed:

Home Office post-mortems
Removal of tissues for transplant
Viewing of bodies which have a high risk of infection.
Restoring bodies badly traumatised in preparation for viewing.
Release of bodies on religious grounds and under exceptional circumstances
Monitor and organise transfers of bodies to offsite storage facilities and outside mortuaries when necessary, completing all necessary documentation.
Assist in the identification with the Police of the BIDs, ensuring all correct documentation is completed.
Any other duties that may be required by the Trust, Home Office or H M Coroner
The post holder will be required to participate in the delivery of the mortuary service outside core hours. This entails contracted participation on a rotational basis in the department’s ‘on-call’ roster.

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Maintain and foster the highest possible standards of technical work complying with ISO15189:2012 (UKAS), HTA and Health & Safety standards and regulations.
Adhere to standards and Code of Practice expected by the Academy of Healthcare Science (AHCS) and Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology (AAPT)
Keep up to date with relevant scientific information, trends, and developments to assist in the maintenance and development of mortuary procedures.
Maintain an on-going Professional Portfolio and an up-to-date Professional Development Plan.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

To ensure that records are kept up to date and stored safely for compliance with the requirements of UKAS and the HTA.
To comply with good mortuary practice required for the standards of ISO15189:201 (UKAS), HTA and Health & Safety guidelines.
Assist in the collation of statistics for finance on the total number of bodies within the department with special reference to each Coroner.
Take an active role in departmental annual appraisal, keeping records and amending job roles where necessary.
Participate in audit within the department and collate the statistics from the mortuary database.
Assist in the maintenance of all equipment and instruments, recording on the maintenance logs details of maintenance visits.
Ensure that adequate stocks of consumables and instruments are available and appropriately always stored.
Deputise for the Mortuary Lead in their absence.

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES

Participate in training any current Trainee APTs in accordance with departmental policies and SOPs.
Assist Trainee APTs in the completion of the Royal Institutes Anatomical Pathology Logbook
Assist APTs in further training within the department for the Diploma in Anatomical Pathology
Report identified training need to the Mortuary Section Lead
Assist the mortuary Section lead in ensuring that all mortuary staff is adequately trained in the use of chemicals, equipment, and bio-hazardous materials.
To attend educational and training courses as required by the departmental manager.

AUDIT

To participate in research and development, as directed by departmental management.

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Participate in the department end of year stock take.
To audit, monitor and be responsible for stock control.
Assist with the management of the department’s resources in an effective manner so as to achieve a cost-neutral budget.
Shares responsibility for the safekeeping of patient valuables whilst present in the mortuary.

LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Take an active role in departmental annual appraisal, keeping records and amending job roles where necessary with staff appraised.
Involvement in the recruitment of staff, participating in the selection and interview process.
Management of Mortuary Standard Operating Procedures using the EQMS system.
Maintain stocks of reagents and consumables, undertaking monthly checks and placing orders as required.
Assist, in liaison with the Service Lead and medical lead, all organ retention issues.
Assist with the management of the Foetal Disposal Policy, ensuring that all correct documentation is completed in liaison with the mortuary and bereavement, including a training schedule for all APT staff.
Assist with the update and review the departmental COSHH assessments and undertake risk assessments where appropriate following current guidelines.
Assist with the interpretation of complex information and provide advice and information to service users regarding patient/sample handling, including information on collection conditions for all samples types.
In the absence of the mortuary lead, adopt a supervisory role within the department, organising the workload to deliver the daily workload of the department, meeting and complying with all departmental standards.
Assist with the coordination of the rotas for all area of the department.
In the absence of the mortuary lead, allocate work in an appropriate fashion so as to facilitate the most effective and efficient use of resources.

COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP

Designated named person on the HTA licence.
Nominated HTA co-ordinator between Coroner and families.
Participate in taking consent for postmortem procedure in accordance with the HTA
Has working partnerships with Consultant Pathologists, Clinicians, Forensic Pathologists, HM Coroner, Police, Funeral Directors, and other Healthcare professionals across the trust.

FREEDOM TO ACT

Manages the operation of the mortuary service when deputizing for the mortuary section Lead.
Recommends changes to standard operating procedures.
Guided by National and Departmental policies, procedures, and legal obligations.