Decontamination Technician
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The closing date is 14 July 2026
The Sterile Services Department (based at Scarborough Hospital) provides a vital service, decontaminating and reprocessing surgical instruments for use on the wards and departments within the York Teaching and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
You will be involved in the cleaning, inspecting, assembling, packing, sterilizing and distributing surgical equipment to wards, departments and theatres. This will include high level disinfection of valuable complex flexible endoscopes for use across the Trust.
Successful candidates will require attention to detail and an eagerness and ability to learn. We have a comprehensive in‑house training package which successful candidates will be expected to complete.
The role is physically demanding, lifting and handling heavy instrument sets and long periods of standing.
As a clinical support, the department operates 7 days a week to meet the demands of the hospital. The technician role is permanent, 37.5 hours per week, working a permanent 13:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday. This includes rostered weekend and Bank holiday work.
The department is compliant to ISO 13485 Quality Management System. Previous experience working with a quality system or in the decontamination is desirable but not essential.
There will be a short test at interview to measure Mathematics and English skills.
Main duties of the job
- To undertake decontamination science duties and assist in providing a specialised decontamination of medical devices service, contributing to the clinical care of the patient.
- To carry out the receipt, disassembly, cleaning, disinfection, reassembly, packing, sterilisation or high level disinfection of reusable medical devices. Record all tasks in the Healthcare Science Information Systems (tracking and tracing) database.
- To deal with all levels of customer queries via telephone and direct personal contact, including clinicians, nurses and other practitioners.
- To provide supervision to Apprentice Decontamination Technicians and other junior staff within the team.
- Work in accordance with the Department’s Standard Operating Procedures and Quality Management System ISO13485:2016.
- The role involves exposure to infectious material and bodily fluids.
About us
We offer a range of benefits to support our staff including:
- Access to the NHS Pension Scheme, providing generous benefits upon retirement, as well as a lump sum and pension for dependants
- 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service)
- A variety of different types of paid and unpaid leave covering emergency and planned leave
- Confidential advice and support on personal, work, family and relationship issues, 24/7, from our Employee Assistance Programme
- NHS Car Lease scheme and Cycle to Work scheme
- An extensive range of learning and development opportunities
- Discounts on restaurants, getaways, shopping, motoring, cinema and finance through a range of provider
Person Specification
Education
- Functional English and Maths Level 2 or equivalent
Experience
- Experience working in a customer service setting
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Experience using decontamination equipment or other commercial machinery
- Working in a hospital environment or similar
Aptitude and Personal Qualities
- Availability to work weekends & BH to meet service need
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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