Medical laboratory assistant

Medical laboratory assistants help and support scientists in medical laboratories. They have duties such as making up chemical solutions, labelling specimens, cleaning and sterilising equipment, and using computers to record and study experiment results.

Also known as:

Clinical support worker: Healthcare science
Assistant technical officer (healthcare science)

Work activities

Medical laboratory assistants support the work of biomedical scientists, helping them to analyse medical samples, for example, of blood and tissue. This helps doctors to diagnose disease and decide on treatment. They have tasks such as:

Making up chemical solutions.
Sorting blood and tissue samples.
Carefully removing chemical and biological waste.
Labelling tubes and bottles.
Looking after equipment stocks and ordering replacements when needed.
Cleaning and sterilising equipment.

They also record and analyse information from experiments, often on computers. Clerical duties include recording the arrival of specimens and sending results to hospital departments. Medical laboratory assistants can specialise in one area of work. With experience, they can train and supervise other staff, or have increased responsibility for tasks such as controlling stock. Some assistants specialise as phlebotomists. This involves taking blood from patients, labelling it accurately, protecting it from damage, and delivering it promptly and safely to the right laboratory.

Personal qualities and skills

To be a medical laboratory assistant, you’ll need:

An interest in science (especially biology and chemistry), health care and lab work.
Practical skills, for example, to handle specimens and small instruments. Also, you must be willing to learn new technical skills.
Attention to detail and a thorough, careful approach to your work.
Number skills to check results, take measurements and make calculations.
Accurate record-keeping skills.
Written skills to produce reports.
Computer skills to record and analyse information from tests and experiments, and to monitor stock levels.
Concentration – some of the work involves repeating the same short tasks.
Teamwork skills.
The ability to work under pressure.

Some assistants have contact with patients so they have to be friendly, sympathetic and able to reassure anxious people. They must also not be afraid of needles or blood.

Pay and opportunities

NHS employees are paid on the rising Agenda for Change payscale within defined bands, according to their skills and responsibilities. You will typically start on band 2, earning £22,383 per year. You could rise to band 4 if you move into an associate role. This pays up to £27,596.

Medical laboratory assistants usually work a 37.5-hour week, Monday to Friday, with occasional Saturday and bank holiday work.

Employers include:

NHS hospital medical laboratories and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
Health Protection Agency (part of Public Health England).
Private hospitals.
Pharmaceutical industry.
Government scientific research departments.
Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency.
Forensic laboratories.

Opportunities for medical laboratory assistants occur in laboratories in towns and cities throughout the UK.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, in local/national newspapers, on the Government’s Find a Job service and on job boards.

Entry Routes and Training

You can apply directly for vacancies and then receive training on-the-job. A number of apprenticeship schemes offer a good way into this role:

Healthcare science assistant (level 2 / intermediate)
Laboratory technician (level 3 / advanced)

Training covers the job role and safety procedures. You can then gain certificates of competence for doing certain tasks properly and safely. These will help if you want to move on to another hospital during your career. You’ll gain relevant qualifications at the apprenticeship level you undertake.

With experience, staff working in healthcare science support roles can apply for more senior posts, such as “healthcare science associate”. At this level, employers might support them to work towards a relevant level 3 qualification, higher national qualification or foundation degree.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: Working in contact with patients as a medical laboratory assistant can be an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

If you wish to enter this career through an intermediate or advanced apprenticeship, you will need GCSEs in English and maths, although you may be able to complete these alongside your programme. Similar qualifications will be needed to enter the role through direct application.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

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