Job at NHS

[Klaudia99]

Hi All, I haven't worked in a while. I have job interview at a hospital for a Phlebotomist which is drawing blood from patients.
I have pretty much a tattoo sleeve on one of my arms. I would just like to know if anyone has any knowledge will I be allowed to wear a long sleeve shirt for this position? Has I would just feel more comfortable if my tattoos are hidden from patients. I understand some roles wearing long sleeves can risk spread infection however,Phlebotomist is not a front-line client care role. Your thoughts plz

Phlebotomist would be front-line as you are literally touching patients. I would expect them to say that you need to be bare below the elbows at work.

I would say phlebotomist is front line and direct patient care. In my Trust you would need to be bare below the elbows.

You will need to he bare below the elbow. That said, these days, tattoos are acceptable. One of the HCSW in my team has more or less, her whole arm tattooed and wears short sleeved uniforms..

how is it not front line patient care? 😕

Here’s the nhs clothing guidelines. Sample taking is most definitely direct patient care op.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Uniforms-and-Workwear-Guidance-2-April-2020.pdf

Tattoos are generally ok as long as they aren’t something offensive in nature.

It’s front line. You’ll have to be bare below the elbow. So long as your tattoos aren’t offensive then you’ll be fine. They’ll probably be a good talking point when you’re putting patients at ease prior to bleeding them.

You'd need to be bare below the elbow, as long as the tattoos aren't offensive though there won't be an issue with them being on show. If you're not comfortable with patients seeing them unfortunately you won't be able to circumvent this so perhaps a non patient contact role would be better for you.

You asked (and got the exact same answer) before.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/4851668-nhs-uniform?reply=127812240

My Daughter is a medical student and looking for a phlebotomist role during the Summer (May to September) and be part of an ongoing bank for weekend work. She would very much appreciate the experience of phlebotomy and also patient engagement. We are based in the Scottish Borders so Edinburgh, Borders West Lothian is all possible.
Would be very grateful if anyone can help. Been getting a bit of a run around trying to find a direct phlebotomist hospital team contact.
Many thanks for your help in advance ❤️.

@penky I’m in England so it might be different, but the bank for NHS staff is called NHS professionals. People register with them and can then pick shifts up as available / wanted. I don’t work in phlebotomy myself so I don’t know if they would tend to use the bank, but it’s certainly worth looking at the NHSP website (even if just to check that it’s used in Scotland too!). Hope this helps.

Of course it’s front line…..i have a uniform that I need to wear….and I never even touch a patient ….but bare below the elbow is still the uniform policy

As long as they are not offensive you will be fine