Trainee or Specialist Biomedical Scientist

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Scientist team at Caithness General Hospital Laboratory.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, self motivated Trainee or Specialist Biomedical Scientist who holds or willing to work towards HCPC registration. The post holder must also hold or willing to work towards a Specialist Portfolio or equivalent experience in one of the blood sciences. An IBMS accredited Biomedical Science degree is essential for this post. The candidate must have excellent organisational skills, be driven for independent learning and have a positive attitude to change.

Candidates with accredited degrees but require HCPC registration will be directed through the portfolio and Annex 21 is applied at band 5. Transition to band 6 Annex 21 will start at the date of registration.

HCPC registered with no specialist portfolio (or pending) - Band 6 Annex 21 would apply in such circumstances, and the successful candidate will be required to complete the relevant Specialist Diploma via self-directed learning, with some support from the senior leadership team, in order to transition to Band 6 at pay point 0.

A post with Annex 21 applied is paid a percentage of the fully qualified rate during the period of training as follows:- Year 1: 60% of the pay band maximum; Year 2: 65% of the pay band maximum, Year 3: 70% of the pay band maximum; Year 4: 75% of the pay band maximum. Should you fail to complete the training required for this post the duties of your post may be reviewed.

Caithness and Sutherland is an area steeped in history with unspoiled natural beauty and opportunities for many outdoor pursuits. It is an exciting time to join the team after a recent upgrade in equipment and improvement to service delivery in diagnostics for NHS Highland North.

The laboratory forms part of the recently developed NHS Highland Area Blood Sciences service. It processes in excess of 50,000 requests per annum covering haematology, biochemistry and blood transfusion. Requests come from the Rural General Hospital, the Community Hospitals, and GP Surgeries in Caithness and East Sutherland. The successful candidate will be expected to rotate through all areas of the laboratory, often without direct supervision, and participate in the non-residential on-call service to support the Point of Care Testing (POCT) model. This post is graded 5/6, under the NHS Agenda for Change grading system.

The successful candidate will gain experience through each discipline moving towards multi-disciplinary, and a working knowledge of the theory and practice of a UKAS accredited blood sciences laboratory (ISO Experience of cross discipline working with a good grasp of UKAS ISO standards would be an advantage, although training can be given to allow successful applicants to participate independently in the on-call service.

This is a full-time post of 37 hours per week, over 7 days, plus non-residential on-call supporting the POCT testing model. Successful candidates must reside within a 20 minutes response time of the hospital to support major trauma and incident management.
Please note the Job Description for this post is currently undergoing review
Informal enquiries would be welcomed by Johan Campbell, Rural General Hospital Laboratory Manager, Tel: , email

Recruitment team can be contacted by e-mailing