Laboratory Assistants
Clinical support workers and assistants (sometimes known as assistant technical officers) working in healthcare science will work with doctors and scientists to diagnose and treat disease.
They may work in pathology laboratories or work on wards or in clinics
Within pathology laboratories, the clinical support worker’s main role is as support to biomedical scientists. Their work is often varied and can involve a variety of laboratory skills; their work may involve:
- making up chemical solutions
- using computers to analyse data
- responsibility for labelling and sorting of tissue samples
- disposal of chemical or biological waste
- maintaining stocks or consumable items
- phlebotomy (see below)
Clinical support workers can specialise in one area of their work; however, many often have the opportunity to work in a range of different aspects of pathology and can expand their responsibilities and skills by training and supervising other staff. Areas they can work in, include:
- biochemistry
- histology
- immunology
- haematology
- transfusion science
- cytology
In wards or in clinics, clinical support workers may take blood (phlebotomy) or assist physiological scientists who are investigating the functioning of organ/body systems.
CK Healthcare handle locum vacancies for Laboratory Assistants so if you have experience and want to work flexibly for good rates of pay, please contact us now.
