Senior Ophthalmic Assistant (Internal Only)

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is recruiting two full-time Ophthalmic Assistants to join the Ophthalmology Outpatients Department at The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. The successful candidates will be prepared to progress to Senior Assistant and mentor Band 2/3 staff.

Occasional cross-site work to The Princess Royal Hospital may be required. Responsibilities include visual acuity testing, retinal imaging, pupil assessment, assisting with minor ops and injections, and OCT/HFA testing,

Qualifications

• Experience in ophthalmic outpatient care is essential.
• Ability to supervise Band 2 trainees and Band 3 Ophthalmic Assistants.
• Willingness to step up to a Senior Assistant role and act as a role model.

Responsibilities

• Undertake visual acuities testing (Snellen and LogMAR).
• Carry out Optos Widefield Retinal imaging.
• Assess pupil reactions and RAPD.
• Assist scrub nurses with minor operations and intravitreal injections.
• Perform and assess Humphrey Visual Fields and OCT imaging.
• Coordinate the outpatient clinic under indirect supervision and support junior staff.

Skills

Visual acuity testing

Retinal imaging

Intraocular injections assistance

Outpatient clinic coordination

Tools

Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer

OCT imaging

Optos Widefield Retinal imaging

Job description

This post is for internal candidates to The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust. If you are not currently working within either of these Trusts, your application will not be reviewed and automatically rejected at shortlisting stage. Please be aware of this when submitting your application.

Job Overview

An exciting new position has been created working within the ophthalmology outpatient department, based at The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

We are looking for 2 full time experienced, technically skilled motivated Ophthalmic Assistants to join our busy Ophthalmology Outpatients Department.

The successful candidates will be ready to step up in to a Senior Assistant role and act as a role model for our Band 2 trainees and Band 3 Ophthalmic Assistants team.

Some cross site working to The Princess Royal Hospital may be occasionally required.

Main duties of the job

The position will involve undertaking a variety of skills to a high standard to include:

• Visual acuities (Snellen and LogMar)
• To carry out Optos Widefield Retinal imaging
• To assess pupil reaction and detection of RAPD
• Assisting scrub nurses with minor ops & intravitreal injections
• To Perform and assess junior staff on Humphrey Visual Fields Analysis as well as ocular coherence tomography to include multimodal fundus imaging.
• To coordinate the outpatient clinic under indirect supervision to ensure smooth running of the department. This will involve dealing with a wide variety of calls received into the department in addition to ensuring the wellbeing of junior staff

Working for your organisation

Our Poppy’s Promise Commitment

We believe that compassionate care sits at the heart of everything we do. Every member of our team — clinical or non-clinical — plays a vital role in ensuring that patients, families, and colleagues are treated with dignity, empathy, and respect at all times.

We expect all staff to demonstrate compassion not only through their words, but through their actions: by listening attentively, communicating clearly and kindly, and recognising individual needs, feelings, and circumstances of those in our care.

Effective communication is central to safe and high-quality healthcare. We value colleagues who take the time to understand others, explain information in a meaningful way, and respond to concerns with patience and understanding.

By joining our team, you are committing to uphold these values — ensuring that every patient feels heard, respected, and valued, and that compassion is embedded in every interaction, every day.

Hospital Transformation Programme (HTP)

Our Service will relocate to The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in 2028 as part of HTP. This move will bring specialist services together in a modern, purpose-built facility to improve patient care and team experience.

We are actively recruiting, and successful candidates will be expected to move with the Service in early 2028. The relocation will follow a formal management of change process, including full consultation and support for staff.