Mortuary Assistant Job Summary
The Mortuary and Bereavement Service consists of APTs, both qualified and trainees, Bereavement Officers, Mortuary Assistants and administrative staff, working closely with Consultant and Junior Histopathologists from Cellular Pathology.
This department sits within the Directorate of Haematology, Cellular Pathology and Supporting Services.. The Cellular Pathology laboratories and its scientific staff are managed independently by GSTS Pathology (Synnovis).
There are two mortuaries, one at Guy’s and another at St Thomas’ Hospital. St Thomas’ acts as the main mortuary and is the site for all post-mortem examinations and related activity.
The Mortuary and Bereavement Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’ handles 1,200+ inpatient deaths per year, for which about 20% have post mortem examinations.
The Mortuary at St Thomas’ is situated on the lower ground floor of the North Wing and the Guy’s Mortuary is situated at Talbot Yard.
The Mortuary at St Thomas’ is a large referral centre for specialist post mortem examinations, receiving an additional 1,000 approx. patients per year from several HM Coroner’s jurisdictions and several other NHS establishments. We specialise in post mortem perinatal and paediatric pathology (including forensics), neuropathology, maternal deaths, post-operative deaths, sickle cell related deaths and infectious diseases.
Main duties of the job
As an assistant in the Mortuary & Bereavement service, the post holder is expected to work as part of a team within all specialties of the Mortuary (except post mortem examinations and patient reconstruction) and to rotate between both of our sites. They will be required to carry delegated tasks to a high standard, offering invaluable support to the APTs, Bereavement Officers and other service users.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Education
Essential
- 5 GCSE qualifications, A*-C or equivalent
Desirable
- Commitment to continuing professional development
- Familiarity of the AAPT
Previous experience
Desirable
- Experience of working with deceased patients
- Experience of working in a hospital or laboratory environment
- Experience of working with bereaved relatives
Skills/Knowledge/Ability
Essential
- Computer Literate
- Familiarity with common Microsoft Office software
- Ability to adopt a professional approach with distressing situations
- Ability to adopt a sympathetic approach to patients and relatives
- Ability to adopt a professional approach with distressing images
- Ability to adopt a professional approach with exposure to unpleasant working conditions
- Ability to concentrate in a busy and noisy environment
- Good communication skills both written and oral
- High degree of numeracy
- Good interpersonal and team working skills
- Ability to adapt efficiently to changing work patterns and situations
- Ability to adapt a professional approach towards doctors, health care workers and other users of the mortuary services
- Organisation and planning skills
Physical Requirements
Essential
- The ability to carry out moderate lifting on a daily basis in line with Manual Handling policies
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 25 August 2025
