Senior Medical Scientist (Surveillance Scientist)

Hours: 37 hours per weekReports To:The person appointed shall report to the Chief Medical Scientist in the Microbiology Department and take direction from the Consultant Microbiologists Role PurposeTo perform routine, specialised, research and development surveillance to the highest professional standards for the greater needs of the patients. Be responsible for the development, co-ordination and implementation of quality processes within Pathology and across the hospital for documentation required for Surveillance of pathogens, antimicrobial resistance patterns and healthcare associated infections as required from time to time on direction of Chief Medical Scientist Microbiology, HPSC and Consultant Microbiologists Principal Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe Surveillance Scientist will: •               Participate with the Laboratory Manager, Chief Medical Scientist (Microbiology) and relevant others in identifying and implementing operational processes to the standard of ‘best practice’ in order to optimise use of resources.•               Keep the Chief Medical Scientist (Microbiology), Consultant Microbiologists, and Laboratory Manager appraised of any significant developments in the field of Surveillance.•               Ensure the laboratory/hospital is compliant with all relevant legislation pertaining to the surveillance of notifiable diseases and other diseases of interest.•               Continue laboratory participation in the EARSS project•               Collection, storage and referral of isolates to reference laboratories and other centres as required.•               Preparation, input and verification of data for analysis.•               Identify, access, and analyse data on antimicrobial resistance, indicator organisms and health-care associated infection.•               Use of available software tools to prepare and present clear and timely reports as required on a regular and / or ad hoc basis•               Participation in the development, monitoring and supervision of communicable disease surveillance, ensuring that new cases are reported and records updated.•               Notification of communicable diseases as appropriate and facilitate timely and effective feedback to the HPSC and other surveillance programmes.•               Participation in and expand involvement in national and international programmes.•               Liaise with the antimicrobial consumption data in the hospital as required.•               Any other duties as required by the consultant Microbiologist / Chief Medical Scientist.•               Liaise with and support the hospital antimicrobial stewardship service with timely and comprehensive surveillance data on antimicrobial resistance•               Ensure the quality and integrity of surveillance data•               Liaise as required with local, regional and national groups concerned with the assessment of HCAI or the furtherance of surveillance.•               Participate in the assessment and management of outbreaks as required•               Liaise with and support the hospital infection control service and participate in the Infection Prevention and Control Team and the Infection Prevention and Control Committee.•               Have a working knowledge of Health Information & Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role, for example, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc and comply with associated protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.•               Participate in Continuous Professional Development activities•               Develop and lead the introduction of new ideas and methods pertaining to and impacting on surveillance activities.•               Participate in the implementation of a quality management programme which is patient centred and which measures and audits performance and user satisfaction.•               Actively participate in and promote continuing education and research activities consistent with the position.•               Be responsible for maximising the use of available resources within the Service and identifying requirements to meet future needs.•               Demonstrate behaviour consistent with the values of the Hospital and ethical code •               Maintain and promote a patient focused orientation in the delivery of service •               Participate in the production of an annual departmental report as well as other relevant annual reports.•               Participate in the determination of departmental policies for improvement of the service and assessing the needs for additional resources.•               Ensure that policy relating to laboratory record keeping is followed•               Participate in Hospital and/or external committees as required•               Arrange training for the laboratory team as appropriate•               Actively participate in and promote continuing education and research activities consistent with the position Skills/ Experience/ KnowledgeThe successful candidate must:·      Demonstrate excellent understanding and preferably have good experience of surveillance and medical microbiology·      Demonstrate awareness of the importance of quality in laboratory practice·      Demonstrate an ability to evaluate information from a variety of sources·      Demonstrate good decision making and problem solving skills ·      Demonstrate evidence of effective planning and organising skills including awareness of resource management and importance of value for money·      Demonstrate ability to manage deadlines and effectively handle multiple tasks·      Demonstrate the ability to plan and manage change·      Demonstrate effective communication skills including the ability to present information in a clear and concise manner and the ability to communicate effectively with other staff and persons outside the core laboratory service·      Demonstrate evidence of good computer skills including a strong working knowledge of laboratory IT systems and database interrogation tools. This knowledge should include in-depth experience of Microsoft Office products such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint in order to analyse, interpret and present complex data in a meaningful and interpretable way·      Demonstrate a knowledge of the operation of Hospital IT systems