Highly Specialist Orthoptist

TN United Kingdom; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a leading NHS trust as an Orthoptist, providing comprehensive ophthalmology services. This part-time role offers development opportunities and requires clinical expertise. Work in a supportive environment with a focus on patient care and professional growth.

Qualifications

• Experience in multi-professional teams and clinical governance.
• Post-registration experience in specialist services.

Responsibilities

• Provide orthoptic services as an autonomous practitioner.
• Lead the Community Orthoptic Services and manage the team.

Skills

Clinical Skills

Empathy

Autonomous Working

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor of Science in Orthoptics

Diploma in British Orthoptics

Tools

Cerner Millennium

Job description

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An exciting vacancy has become available to join our team on a permanent basis part-time, 2 days per week starting from May 2025.

Your role is varied and interested and will provide you with development and leadership opportunities. In addition to core orthoptic clinics you will be working within extended roles in paediatrics ophthalmology including JIA clinics and stroke servivces. You will take a role in jointly leading our community paediatric services and work closely with the team and our paediatric ophthalmologist and AHP colleagues. We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated Orthoptist to join our teams.
The post-holder will work as part of the multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive and quality ophthalmology services for the Trust.
You will be based in the Eye Treatment Centre at Whipps Cross University Hospital with sessions within the community and special schools and stroke service at Newham hospital. The Eye Treatment Centre is a dedicated unit covering all ophthalmology specialties including vitreo-retinal, medical retina, glaucoma, cornea, oculo-plastics, paediatrics, neuro-ophthalmology and we also have a busy eye emergency service.

Main duties of the job

To provide an orthoptic service as an autonomous practitioner: both preventative and curative as directed by the standards of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS)

To use advanced clinical expertise, reasoning and experience to assess, diagnose and manage patients referred to the Orthoptic service as part of a multi-disciplinary team

To actively teach and educate other healthcare professionals including under-graduate orthoptic students, pre-registration Optometrists, Health Visitors, School Nurses, General Practitioners (GP), junior doctors and medical students

To be the Lead Orthoptist for the Community Orthoptic Services and within this role: oversee the overall organisation and management of the service and support the team with operational management

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

Person specification

Experience

• Experience of working as part of a team, uni-professional and multi-professional
• Advice, training and support to junior staff, support staff and students
• Developed knowledge of current best practice in Orthoptics in the relevant setting
• Demonstrate understanding of clinical governance
• Understanding legal responsibilities of the profession and the associated code of ethics
• Post-registration experience including experience in specialist services, paeds, neuro, community, glaucoma & fields
• Member of a relevant specific interest group
• Knowledge of Cerner Millennium/equivalent system
• Audit and research experience

Skills

• Specialist clinical skills in all areas of orthoptics
• Ability to analsye and prioritise complex medical information to help devise appropriate specialist care plans
• Ability to present information both orally and written in a clear, logical manner
• Ability to demonstrate empathy and professionalism through patient consultations and achieve sound clinical outcome, even when receiving/delivering complex or distressing information
• Ability to pass on knowledge and deliver training
• Autonomous working and use of initiative, guided by broad orthoptic guidelines
• Ability to organize, plan and prioritise workload

Knowledge

• Keen to invest in continued professional development
• Team work and good people skills
• Flexible and reliable approach
• Caring and considerate attitude
• Able to carry out moderate to intense effort throughout the working day and carry out concurrent activities with frequent interruptions
• Demonstrate attention and accuracy to detail
• Ability to keep accurate and legible patient notes
• Commitment to non-discriminatory practice
• Professional approach in difficult or emotional situations
• Documented evidence of CPD, in accordance with the HPC

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Orthoptics: BSc (Orth), BMedSci (Orth) and/or Diploma in British Orthoptics(DBO)
• Member of Health Professional Council (HPC)
• Member of the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS)

Other

• Able to travel between hospital and community sites
• Sufficient to perform the duties of the post with any aids and adaptations