Principal Optometrist

Join Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. At Moorfields, people’s sight matters—and so do the people who make it possible. For over 200 years, Moorfields has been at the forefront of ophthalmic care, research, and education. With more than 2,300 dedicated team members and over 700,000 patients seen annually across our City Road site and 22 networked sites, we are proud to be a global centre of excellence. We’re a community where kindness, equity and excellence shape every aspect of our work. We’re united by one mission—delivering world-class eye health, sustainably and at scale. From 2027, we’ll move to our brand-new Oriel site in St Pancras, Camden—a state-of-the-art centre that will unite eye care, research, and education under one roof.

We are looking for a highly skilled and motivated optometrist for a principal Optometrist post working within our City Road. The post will consist of delivering highly specialist clinical care. Applicants need to have prior experience working in the hospital service and already have the relevant higher qualifications from the College of Optometrists or be working towards them. The successful applicants will be joining an enthusiastic and friendly team of consultants, optometrists, orthoptists, ophthalmic nurses and technicians working within the hospital. Moorfields provides high quality ophthalmology services across the full range of sub-specialities in hospital and community settings.

Main duties of the job:

• To be the lead optometrist in the designated clinic/service for the Optometry Department.
• To develop the role of optometrists within the service in conjunction with the Consultant Ophthalmologists within the clinics and the Service Lead and Head of Optometry.
• To represent the hospital and the optometric profession in teaching the management of conditions, by developing UK wide models of eye care.
• To have overall responsibility for the clinical care and supervision of patients seen in the clinic.
• To undertake highly specialist clinical activity requiring extensive knowledge, experience and expertise in management that includes a high proportion of tertiary referrals.
• To have overall responsibility for the clinical supervision of clinical staff; to supervise all patient examinations carried out by the support/resident/placement/new to clinic Optometrist unless/until such time that the support/resident/new to clinic optometrist attains the appropriate qualification.
• To provide expert opinion to optometric and non-optometric colleagues on the management of complex cases within the designated Clinics and the Optometry Department.
• To undertake a comprehensive range of complex optometry services at Moorfields and outreach clinics, including refraction (complex, diagnostic and paediatric), low vision clinics (paediatric, complex, employment).
• To refer patients for appropriate appliances (contact lenses, spectacles, low vision aids) and provide advice on needs, treatment and corrective aids.

Working for our organisation:

We offer:

• Salary including High-Cost Area Supplement
• Opportunity to join the NHS Pension Scheme
• Free 24/7 independent counselling service
• Learning and development opportunities
• Easy and quick transport links
• A range of attractive benefits and discounts
• Access to Blue Light Card and other NHS Discount Schemes
• Free Pilates classes
• Full support and training to develop your skills
• Flexible working friendly organisation

Details of benefits available can be found in our Moorfields benefits document.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities:

To deliver highly specialist clinical patient care requiring extensive knowledge, experience and expertise in management that includes a high proportion of tertiary referrals. This activity requires regular use of a wide range of advanced clinical techniques requiring dexterity, precision and intense concentration; and the judgement, analysis and interpretation of the complex clinical findings with a range of management options. Patient examinations will be comprehensive and commensurate with clinical experience beyond Masters Level (e.g. College of Optometrists Diploma in Glaucoma, College of Optometrists Diploma in Independent Prescribing). Skills and knowledge are commensurate with those of sub-specialty medical ophthalmology staff.

To make independent, patient-centred clinical decisions on management in the presence of uncertainty (for example where patients are unable to cooperate fully in clinical assessments or the evidence for management options is unclear). To be autonomously responsible for medical treatment (including prescribing) and management of patients. To recognise when patient clinical findings require Consultant Ophthalmic opinions. To refer patients with ocular comorbidity to other ophthalmological services appropriately.

As Clinic Lead in Optometrist, to supervise all patient examinations carried out by the support/resident/placement/new to clinic Optometrist unless/until such time that the support/resident/new to clinic Optometrist has attained the appropriate College of Optometrists certificate or completed their competency sign off. To review all prescribing decisions unless the prescribing optometrist has the correct qualifications together with the College of Optometrists Diploma in Independent Prescribing and their scope of practice.

To organise the session by reviewing all clinical records at the start of an Optometrist-led clinic to determine necessary additional clinical tests (e.g. visual fields, imaging, auto-refraction) utilising the different staff groups efficiently (admin, technical, optometric). To provide expert opinion to optometric and non-optometric colleagues on the management of complex cases within the designated Clinics and the Optometry Department. To undertake a comprehensive range of complex optometry services at Moorfields and outreach clinics. These include refraction (complex, diagnostic and paediatric), low vision clinics (paediatric, complex, employment). The post holder maintains a personal clinical workload within these services. To refer patients for appropriate appliances (contact lenses, spectacles, low vision aids) and provide appropriate advice to patients on needs, treatment and corrective aids.

Person specification:

Qualifications:

• Essential criteria: BSc (Hons) Optometry Specialist College of Optometrist Prof Cert
• Desirable criteria: Specialist College of Optometrist Higher Qualifications, Specialist College of Optometrist Diploma in Independent Prescribing, MSc/PhD in Optometry/Ophthalmology

Professional Registration:

• Essential criteria: General Optical Council Registration

Experience:

• Essential criteria: Post-qualification Hospital experience > 5 years, Hospital extended role experience >3 years, Experience of examining vulnerable groups of patients e.g. CYP / additional needs, Experience with clinical teaching, Experience with supervision of junior staff, Experience in audit
• Desirable criteria: Experience with line management and appraisal, Experience in research, Experience of dealing with quality and safety issues e.g. complaints, incidents, risk assessment, Experience of formal undergraduate/postgraduate teaching, Experience of presenting at national and international meetings and conferences, Experience of writing protocols, competencies and Standard Operating Procedures

Skills:

• Essential criteria: Competent use of a slit-lamp to examine the anterior and posterior eye with specialist lenses, Competent performance of retinoscopy, Ability to analyse and interpret ocular imaging e.g. OCT, visual fields, topography to an expert clinical level
• Desirable criteria: Ability to write detailed clinical summaries, Excellent interpersonal skills and multidisciplinary team working, Advanced planning and organisational skills, Ability to sensitively manage staff and patients with respect to their emotional well being, Ability to communicate complex information clearly to patients and colleagues, Ability to identify service improvement needs and innovate solutions

Due to the nature of this position, employment is subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK, completion of a satisfactory DBS disclosure and two references. We do not offer visa sponsorship for roles unless clearly stated in our adverts. Consider this before applying. Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our organisational culture. We encourage applications from under-represented candidates including BAME and Disabled candidates as we work towards a representative workforce. Moorfields is a flexible working organisation committed to work-life balance. Every employee has the right to request flexible working. If it works for the service, we will try to accommodate. If you would like to discuss reasonable adjustments or an accessible version of recruitment documents, please contact the recruitment team at moorfields.recruitment@nhs.net.