Specialist Orthoptist

We are committed to helping our staff balance their work and home lives and ensure they feel supported, valued and appreciated. We offer many different ways of helping staff including career development opportunities, flexible working, good annual leave and pension schemes, health and wellbeing packages and financial support systems. Joining the Trust also allows you access to a number of saving options via our salary sacrifice schemes and a wide range of discount opportunities with retailers and service providers.

An opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Orthoptist to join our department on a temporary contract of 1 day per week, to cover a secondment. The post holder will provide highly specialised Orthoptic service(s) to patients of all ages from a range of specialities suffering from a wide variety of medical disorders including tertiary referrals from Ophthalmology, Neurology, Maxillofacial Unit, Endocrinology, Oncology, Stroke Unit and Emergency Eye Centre. Will participate in the provision of Goldmann and Octopus visual field assessment, also assess patients referred to the Low Vision Service and Orthoptic TBI service. You will undertake clinical teaching and assessment of undergraduate orthoptic students.

Main duties of the job:

• To be legally and professionally responsible and accountable for the orthoptic investigation, diagnosis and management of new and follow-up patients referred to the Orthoptic Department from various departments including ophthalmology, paediatrics, the Emergency Eye Centre (EEC), accident and emergency, maxillo-facial, and neurology.
• This patient group comprises all cases of ocular motility defects and amblyopia (reduced vision with no pathological cause), anomalies of binocular single vision (ability to use the eyes together), complex congenital and acquired cases including neurological abnormalities, genetic disorders and associated ocular abnormalities.
• To be responsible for the evaluation of visual acuity and visual behaviour in referrals from the specialist services, including non-seeing babies, infants with strabismus (squint) and amblyopia, congenital or developmental abnormalities, adult illiterates, and children and adults with significant learning difficulties.
• To formulate and implement individualised management and treatment plans using advanced clinical reasoning and a wide range of treatment skills, communicating these effectively with patients (adults and children), parents, and carers and to gain informed consent to those treatment plans.

You will be working for an organisation which values and respects all its staff and the community it serves. The Trust is a leader in the NHS and research sectors and provides excellent benefits for its staff. This includes commitments to professional development but also many policies to support employees in balancing their personal and professional lives. This vacancy is advertised on a fixed term contract basis for the maximum period of 18 months. Where there is potential, the secondment/fixed term contract may finish early, or in the first instance, the secondment/fixed term contract may be extended due to the internal/external secondment of the substantive post holder. The fixed term contract status of the post holder will be reviewed in accordance with the Trust's legal obligations regarding fixed term contracts and secondments in relation to the substantive post holder. Please also note any secondment must first be agreed with your current line manager. When completing your application please ensure that you clearly demonstrate how you meet the role criteria.

Person specification:

Qualifications

• Essential criteria: Orthoptics BMedSci OR BSc (Hons) Orthoptics OR Orthoptics BSc (Hons) OR Diploma from British Orthoptic Council (DBO)
• To be registered with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Desirable criteria: Medical exemptions for Orthoptists; Member of the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS)

Knowledge and Experience

• Essential criteria: To have sufficient relevant experience in all aspects of clinical Orthoptics, especially in strabismus and complex ocular motility clinics, with evidence of continuing professional development maintained in a portfolio
• Experience of clinical teaching of Orthoptics.
• Evidence of on-going commitment to continuing professional development following BIOS/HCPC guidelines.
• Visual field examination and interpretation
• IT skills
• Desirable criteria: Skilled in use of slit lamp, optic disc imaging and interpretation of visual fields results, or other ophthalmic investigations usually carried out by specialist medical staff; Experience of research and development activities; Experience undertaking and presenting audit

Communication Skills

• Essential criteria: Good verbal and written communication skills with adults, carers, parents and children, students and all staff disciplines.
• Evidence of working successfully as part of a multidisciplinary team and independently.
• Ability to produce written reports.
• To be approachable and maintain an excellent rapport with colleagues.

Personal Attributes

• Essential criteria: Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills; ability to communicate complex, sensitive and potentially conflicting information to patients and other stakeholders in an appropriate manner independent of their level of understanding.
• Leadership, organisational and negotiating skills.
• Ability to use initiative and quickly interpret complex and potentially conflicting clinical information.
• Capable of performing sustained high intensity work in a pressurised clinical environment.
• Skills of persuasion.
• Possesses precise, fine-motor physical examination skills.
• Works well autonomously.
• Self-motivated.
• Enthusiastic.
• Excellent time management.
• Conscientious.