Healthcare Assistant - Ophthalmology Outpatients

Elht; Burnley; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is recruiting a Healthcare Assistant for Ophthalmology Outpatients. The role is Band 3, permanent, 37.5 hours weekly, across East Lancashire sites including Burnley.

You will support outpatient and day-case ophthalmic services, perform visual assessments and assist with injections, while developing through induction and learning opportunities. You will work in a busy, patient-centered environment with a focus on safe, personal, and effective care and flexible

Qualifications

• GCSE English and Maths Level 4 or above or equivalent.
• Basic IT skills.
• Experience performing basic ophthalmic diagnostic tests (LOGMAR/SNELLEN).
• Clear and accurate record keeping, written and verbal.
• Able to prioritise workload and work flexibly across sites.
• Willingness to undertake ongoing study and development.

Responsibilities

• Support ophthalmology services across sites and participate in service rotation.
• Assist outpatient clinics with chaperone duties and patient flow.
• Conduct visual assessments, diagnostic tests and imaging as required.
• Support nurse-led injection clinics and day-case procedures.
• Prepare patients for surgery and ensure safe, compassionate care.
• Contribute to service improvements and attend relevant meetings.

Skills

GCSE English/Maths

IT skills

Ophthalmology assessments

Record keeping

Prioritisation

Professional development

Confidentiality

Team working

Adaptability

Education

NVQ II/III or equivalent

ELHT care certificate completion

Job description

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Healthcare Assistant - Ophthalmology Outpatients

Band 3

Main area Surgical and Anaesthetics Services Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 435-S112-26-B

Site Across East Lancashire Sites Town Across East Lancashire Sites Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 14/10/2026 23:59

At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work.

Job overview

An exciting development opportunity has arisen for the appointment of a Band 3 health care assistant for Ophthalmology services at ELHT.

We can offer you an interesting career, where you will always be supported and appreciated. You will be working with a talented group of dedicated decision makers, and you can expect a personalised induction and orientation package with excellent personal development plans supported by our services designated practice education facilitator.

Ourbehaviourframework

We’re looking for people who want to make a positive difference. You’ll make it happen bytaking responsibility, building trust and respect and working togetherto deliverexcellenceto our service users.Where we can, we also like tokeep things simpleso that we all contribute to making ELHT an effective, positive and rewarding place to work.

So, if you are a confident, well-organised individual who thrives in a busy and continually transforming clinical environment then we would like to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

You will support all our ophthalmology services cross site as required and we encourage rotational working through all our service departments from outpatients to day case to provide you with development opportunities and experience.

Outpatient services - Responsible for providing a range of support to specialist services within ophthalmic outpatient’s clinics and chaperone duties to support our patients and clinicians, conducting various visual assessments, diagnostic tests and imaging and supporting our nurse led injection clinics.

Day case unit & emergency eye clinic - preparation of patients for surgery, and discharges from the department with a holistic approach to care; ensuring patients receive safe, personal and effective care throughout their stay and act as the patients’ advocate.

You need to be able to demonstrate good, effective communication skills, be a caring and hardworking professional individual and be committed to working in a busy and often challenging environment and assist the team in delivering excellent patient care.

Good time management skills are essential, as is the ability to prioritise your workload.

You will participate in service improvements and attend relevant meetings.

Working for our organisation

Established in 2003 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is a large integrated health care organisation providing high quality acute secondary healthcare for the people of East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen.

Our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 700,000 patients a year from the most serious of emergencies to planned operations and procedures. We employ over 8,000 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work and achievements.

Our Ophthalmology services are spread across three main sites, the Royal Blackburn and Burnley general hospitals and the St Peters centre Burnley. We also run a peripheral clinic based at Clitheroe community hospital. Our day case services are situated on the Fairhurst wing at the Burnley general hospital site

Our services run Monday to Friday 8am till 17.00 / 18.00

There is opportunity to offer flexible working arrangements where services allow.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

To deliver SAFE, PERSONAL and EFFECTIVE patient care on a daily basis.

Responsible for providing a range of support to our specialist services within ophthalmic outpatient’s clinics, day case and emergency eye clinic when required.

To support the productive operation of the clinic environment by undertaking a range of non-clinical activities which contribute to the maintenance of a safe and clean environment.

Ability to demonstrate the Trust Values, Behaviours and Attitudes at all times.

Person specification

• GCSE English and Maths Level 4 or above or equivalent
• Basic Information technology skills /computer and keyboard
• Experience in providing basic diagnostic visual assessments in ophthalmology - LOGMAR /SNELLEN.
• Clear and accurate record keeping, written and verbal skills.
• Able to prioritise workload
• Willingness to undertake future study, to support self- development and service need
• Maintain confidentiality and act professionally.
• Ability to work with change and have a flexible attitude.
• Ability to work within and be an effective member of a team.
• To be supportive of team members.
• To be enthusiastic, conscientious and sympathetic
• Ability to listen actively and reflect on one’s own work.
• Demonstrate a compassionate / sensitive approach to speaking to colleagues, staff and patients
• Ability to work flexibly across site when service demands
• Able to work with minimal supervision & use own initiative
• NVQ level ll or lll or equivalent or willing to undertake
• Completion of ELHT care certificate
• Venepuncture / cannulation Baseline observations competencies.
• Ability to provide fields tests, optical coherence tomography (OCT)
• Evidence of continuous development.
• Ability to coach/support others.

Dear Potential Applicant,

It is important you are made aware of the following as regards your application to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

• Please note that the salary advertised is for full time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro-rata. For posts on Agenda for Change pay-scales, new entrants to the NHS will normally commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
• This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received. Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
• Please note that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post. Therefore only applicants, who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application, will be short-listed.

Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS)

If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in in the Safeguarding vulnerable Groups Act (2006) any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained.

The healthcare sector is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

In line with other NHS organisations in the North West Region, the Trust is now passing the charge for undertaking a DBS check on to candidates in the event they are successfully appointed into the post for which they have applied. Candidates can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months as a deduction from the monthly salary. However, if you are applying for a post as a BANK worker, the payment must be made in full at the time of employment checks. By applying for this vacancy you are agreeing to this undertaking in the event you are successfully appointed.

The cost for an Enhanced DBS, is £45.90 and for a Basic & Standard, this is £24.90 this cost includes a £4.90 admin fee.

This cost is not applicable for a Volunteer post

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The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. In addition, our aim is to help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first-class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust.

We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background.

We especially welcome applications from members of our black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, as we have identified that ELHT has an under-representation of BAME employees. Appointments will be made on merit.

Applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria for the job will be interviewed if you indicate you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process please make the recruitment services team aware as soon as possible. By telephone [phone] or email [e-mail] write to Employment Services, Parkview Offices, Haslingden Road, Blackburn, BB2 3HH

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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