Basic Grade Respiratory Technician
Job Specification & Terms and Conditions
Job Title and Grade
Respiratory Technician Staff Grade (Grade Code 3016)
Campaign Reference
NRS0717
Closing Date
1st February 2013.
Proposed Interview
Date (s)
Taking up
Appointment
Organisational Area
19th February 2013.
Location of Post
There is an initial permanent vacancy in the Pulmonary Function Department, Respiratory
Medicine, Mid Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle, Limerick.
A start date will be indicated at job offer stage.
HSE West.
A panel will be formed for the Mid Western Regional Hospitals Group from which current
and future vacancies will be filled.
Details of Service
The Respiratory and Sleep Laboratory is committed to providing a professional, flexible
and quality assured service, delivering reports of the highest standard. Our objectives are
to:
 Measure the effect of disease on lung function
 Follow the course of any disease affecting lung function
 Assess pre-operative surgical risk
 Provide clinicians with reports of the highest quality
 Provide a diagnostic sleep service and initiate treatment under Physicians’ instructions
 Follow up patients on CPAP therapy to improve compliance and efficacy
 To engage in modernisation and implement change according to best international
practice.
The Mid Western Regional Hospitals comprises of the Mid Western Regional Hospital
Dooradoyle, Mid Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, Croom and Mid Western
Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick, which are currently based on three sites. The Mid
Western Regional Hospitals provide an extensive range of medical services, including both
Inpatient and Out-patient. Diagnostic and clinical support services are also provided.
Reporting
Relationship
Purpose of the Post

Principal Duties and
Responsibilities

Senior Respiratory Technician.
The Respiratory technician will be responsible for the provision of high quality sleep
diagnostic tests and lung function procedures.



Under the general direction of duly authorised Officers, the Technician will undertake
the duties appropriate to a Respiratory Technician.
The Technician should be familiar with the techniques and range of equipment used in
current medical practice for the diagnosis, treatment and care of respiratory patients.
The Technician may be required to work daytime flexible hours in order to deliver
patient oriented service.
Requirements in this area include the ability to handle sick patients, with sympathy and
understanding, and at the same time encouraging maximum effort from them when
carrying out lung function tests. The presentation of test results is also the
responsibility of the Technician.
In addition the holder of this post will be required to carry out and participate in a wide
range of medical procedures. A complete understanding of all such procedures and
an ability to make accurate measurements is essential.
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The role will require him/her to:
 Conduct a full range of pulmonary function tests including, spirometry, reversibility,
DLCO, Static lung volumes (multi-breath and body plethysmography), muscle
strength tests on skin allergy test on all patients attending the Pulmonary
laboratory.
 Assist and be willing to undergo training in more advance tests carried out within
the department.
 Conduct Haemoglobin measurements on suitable patient undergoing DLCO
testing*
 Perform administrative duties relating to scheduling patient appointments for PFT’s
 Deal effectively with queries regarding PFT tests and appointments.
 Conduct and manually score overnight limited sleep studies
 Supervise patients attending the Sleep Unit for follow-up assessments on nasal
CPAP including downloading compliance from their machines*
 Help & encourage patients with aspects of their CPAP therapy (in particular
relating to their mask system and CPAP devices)
 Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to advise on sleep apnoea conditions and
options for care/treatment available*
 Maintain and update patient records, in line with Hospital Administration policies*
 Calibrate equipment daily and perform routine maintenance and cleaning on
equipment as per laboratory protocols, under the direction of senior staff*
 Provide first line maintenance, electrical and medical gases safety checking and
calibration of all equipment in both Pulmonary and Sleep laboratories*
 Participate in Quality control program to ensure accurate and reproducible results.
 Participate in regular audits as part of the multidisciplinary team in the
Sleep/Pulmonary Laboratory
 Report any malfunctioning or usages equipment to senior staff
 Follow the directions of the senior staff at all times
 Ensure clinical standards and standards of patient care are followed at all times
 Ensure that accurate patient records and Departmental statistics are recorded
 Participate in the clinical research activity in the Department when required
 Follow hospital policies and procedures in all aspects of care
 Be familiar with and follow the program of infection control
 As medical procedures change and new developments are introduced, the
Technician must update his/her knowledge and training accordingly. Technician
must stay current with department quality assurance protocols.
 Partake in Laboratory Administration: the Technician may be required to make
appointments, record patient details, prepare results for reporting by medical staff,
dispatch clinical copies and file laboratory copies.
 Archive and update computer files regularly.
 Be familiar with the hospital and Department disaster plans and their
implementation
 Ensure his/her knowledge and training is up to date, by attending appropriate
workshops, seminars, training programmes to ensure professional development.
 Ensure that self development is evidence based and is ongoing.
 Ensure the most effective and efficient use of information technology for both
patient care and administration in a manner that integrates well with systems
throughout the organisation.
*when all appropriate in-house training has been completed.
The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties
involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties
as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and
to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
NRS0717 Respiratory Technician, Job Specification V1: Page 2
Eligibility Criteria
Qualifications and/ or
experience
Candidates must have at the latest date of application: i.
ii.
iii.
Possess the BSc in Clinical Measurement from Dublin Institute of Technology,
Kevin Street or equivalent*
or
Possess the Certificate in Medical Physics and Physiological Measurement
(MPPM) from Dublin Institute of Technology or equivalent
or
Possess an equivalent relevant scientific qualification (Level 8)
* Please Note that 4th year Clinical measurement Science students may apply for this
position pending successful results
Health
A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of
undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would
indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.
Character
Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character.
Post Specific
Requirements
Other requirements
specific to the post
Skills, competencies
and/or knowledge
Age
Age restrictions shall only apply to a candidate where he/she is not classified as a new
entrant (within the meaning of the Public Service Superannuation Act, 2004). A candidate
who is not classified as a new entrant must be under 65 years of age on the first day of the
month in which the latest date for receiving completed application forms for the office
occurs.
 Demonstrate depth and breadth of technical skills and experience in Respiratory and
Sleep Diagnostic processes
 Experience in Sleep study set up and analysis.
 Successful Respiratory placement during in service training in year 3 and 4 of CMS
DIT course or equivalent.
Will be included at expression of interest stage, if applicable
The successful candidate must demonstrate:
 clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning skills and evidence based practice
appropriate to carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the role
 an appropriate level of understanding of respiratory procedures, the underpinning
theory and its application to the role
 evidence based clinical and technical knowledge in making decisions regarding
client assessment and care
 the ability to plan and organise work in an effective and resourceful manner
 the ability to take initiative and to be appropriately self-directed
 the ability to effectively evaluate information and make appropriate decisions
 a commitment to the delivery of a high quality, person centred service
 an ability to be an effective team member and the ability to work independently as
well as part of a team
 effective communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to collaborate
with colleagues, families, carers, etc.
 the ability to follow line management directions appropriately and to utilise
supervision effectively
 evidence of commitment to continuing professional development
 a willingness to engage and develop Information Technology skills relevant to the
role.
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Campaign Specific
Selection Process
Ranking/Shortlisting /
Interview
A ranking and or shortlisting exercise may be carried out on the basis of information
supplied in your application form. The criteria for ranking and or shortlisting are based on
the requirements of the post as outlined in the eligibility criteria and skills, competencies
and/or knowledge section of this job specification. Therefore it is very important that you
think about your experience in light of those requirements.
Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you not being
called forward to the next stage of the selection process.
Those successful at the ranking stage of this process (where applied) will be placed on an
order of merit and will be called to interview in ‘bands’ depending on the service needs of
the organisation.
Code of Practice
The Health Service Executive will run this campaign in compliance with the Code of
Practice prepared by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA). The Code
of Practice sets out how the core principles of probity, merit, equity and fairness might be
applied on a principle basis. The Code also specifies the responsibilities placed on
candidates, facilities for feedback to applicants on matters relating to their application
when requested, and outlines procedures in relation to requests for a review of the
recruitment and selection process and review in relation to allegations of a breach of the
Code of Practice. Additional information on the HSE’s review process is available in the
document posted with each vacancy entitled “Code of Practice, information for
candidates”.
Codes of practice are published by the CPSA and are available on
www.hse.ie/eng/staff/jobs in the document posted with each vacancy entitled “Code of
Practice, information for candidates” or on www.cpsa.ie.
The reform programme outlined for the Health Services may impact on this role and as structures change the job
description may be reviewed.
This job description is a guide to the general range of duties assigned to the post holder. It is intended to be neither
definitive nor restrictive and is subject to periodic review with the employee concerned.
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Terms and Conditions of Employment
Tenure
Remuneration
Working Week
Annual Leave
The initial vacancy for this post is permanent and whole time. This
post is pensionable. A panel will be formed from this recruitment
campaign and future permanent or specified purpose vacancies of full
time or part time hours will be filled from this panel. The tenure of
these posts will be indicated at “expression of interest” stage.
Appointment as an employee of the Health Service Executive is
governed by the Health Act 2004 and the Public Service Management
(Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004.
The Salary scale for the post is:
New entrants to HSE: €33,719-€46,188 (eight points including 2
LSIs)
Current employees of HSE: €37,466-€51,320 (eight points including
2 LSIs)
The standard working week applying to the post is 35 hours per
week.
HSE Circular 003-2009 “Matching Working Patterns to Service
Needs (Extended Working Day / Week Arrangements); Framework
for Implementation of Clause 30.4 of Towards 2016” applies. Under
the terms of this circular, all new entrants and staff appointed to
promotional posts from Dec 16th 2008 will be required to work
agreed roster / on call arrangements as advised by their line
manager. Contracted hours of work are liable to change between
the hours of 8am-8pm over seven days to meet the requirements for
extended day services in accordance with the terms of the
Framework Agreement (Implementation of Clause 30.4 of Towards
2016).
The annual leave associated with the post will be confirmed at Job
Offer Stage
Superannuation
Membership of the HSE Employee Superannuation Scheme applies
to this appointment.
Existing Members who transferred to the HSE on 1st January 2005
pursuant to Section 60 of the Health Act 2004 are entitled to
superannuation benefit terms under the HSE Scheme which are no
less favourable to those to which they were entitled at 31st
December 2004.
Appointees to posts in the Mental Health Services which formerly
attracted fast accrual of service should note that the terms of
Section 65 of the Mental Treatment Act 1945 do not apply to New
Entrant Public Servants as defined by Section 12 of the Public
Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004.
Probation
Every appointment of a person who is not already a permanent officer
of the Health Service Executive or of a Local Authority shall be subject
to a probationary period of 12 months as stipulated in the Department
of Health Circular No.10/71.
NRS0717 Respiratory Technician, Job Specification V1: Page 5
Protection of
Persons Reporting
Child Abuse Act
1998
As this post is one of those designated under the Protection of
Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998, appointment to this post
appoints one as a designated officer in accordance with Section 2 of
the Act. You will remain a designated officer for the duration of your
appointment to your current post or for the duration of your
appointment to such other post as is included in the categories
specified in the Ministerial Direction. You will receive full information
on your responsibilities under the Act on appointment.
Infection Control
Have a working knowledge of Health Information and Quality
Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role: for example,
Standards for Healthcare, National Standards for the Prevention and
Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc.
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