Mortuary Assistant
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Salary: SC4 £27,855 - £29,583
Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: 10th September 2024
Reference:1388
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
To assist the Mortuary Service Operations Manager (MSOM), Lead Radiographer, Senior Administrative Officer and Anatomical Pathology Technologist team in the daily running of the East London Forensic Centre including the post-mortem CT scanning service.
This includes tasks delegated as necessary, including but not limited to: administrative duties, manual handling, inventory management, cleaning and assisting with the movement of deceased individuals.
The postholder will need to be flexible to cover multiple sites, including the East London Forensic Centre, Poplar Public Mortuary and other sites, where necessary, in and outside of London.
To assist in the day-to-day running of the mortuary service in accordance with the Human Tissue Act, 2004.
>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<
Key Responsibilities:
To be able to assist with the movement of the deceased and undertake manual handling procedures as required for the purpose of preparing them for post-mortem, assisting at post-mortem and PMCT, dignified storage of the deceased and release to nominated funeral directors.
To be able to work flexibly around the needs of the service and availability of pathologists, which includes different start or finish times and working across multiple sites including but not limited to the East London Forensic Centre and Poplar Public Mortuary. This also includes participation in the on-call rota.
To be able to adapt to the unpredictable nature of the workload, including major incidents, disasters, pandemics.
To work out of usual office hours and at weekends as necessary to meet the requirements of the service. Start times can vary and are usually between 6am to 9am.
To be able to keep composed under pressure with a large caseload, and demonstrate resilience in an environment which can be distressing. This can include frequent exposure to bodily fluids, contaminated equipment, infectious deceased, infested deceased and those in a state of decomposition or severe trauma.
Qualifications and Requirements:
Experience of working in a mortuary or with a funeral director. (Desirable)
Excellent verbal, written and inter-personal communication skills. (Essential)
To be able to deal with bereaved families of all religions/cultures in a tactful and sensitive matter. (Essential)
To work in a team environment (Essential)
To be able to work independently and take own initiative to meet deadlines. (Essential)
To be able to prioritise workload and meet performance targets. (Essential)
To be able to organise workloads and maintain satisfactory work records. (Essential)
To be able to implement change and assist in developing policies and procedures. (Essential)
To be able to use IT systems, including bespoke databases, Microsoft Office 365, E-mail and internet. (Essential)
Willingness and ability to undertake training and development to maintain effective work competencies. (Essential)
Terms and conditions:
Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
Satisfactory DBS check;
As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Jahran Allen-Thompson at mortuary@walthamforest.gov.uk.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.