Eye Care Liaison Officer (ECLO) - Ayrshire and Arran

Overview

Salary: £16,182 per year (£31,465 full time equivalent)

Contract type: Permanent Contract

Hours: 18 hours per week

Location: University Hospital Ayr and Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock

We\’re the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and were here for everyone affected by sight loss. Working for us means working for one of the UKs biggest charities, supporting almost two million people living with sight loss in the UK.

You will provide critical emotional support, information and guidance, remotely via digital platforms and in community locations, as required. Each day you will support people affected by sight loss to identify their needs, access information and make informed choices which enable and empower them to maintain their independence.

Admin tasks are a large part of this role, you will create and input accurate patient records into a variety of databases and use Microsoft 365 each day.

Main duties of the job

You will have proven experience of delivering information and advice services working directly with the people you are supporting as well as maintaining professional relationships. Key to this role will be your excellent communication and relationship building skills with patients, clinicians and a wide range of cross sector partners.

You will have the ability to work in different locations as required.

You should be confident to work on your own initiative, have excellent organisational skills and be a confident user of IT systems. Impeccable record keeping skills are also key to this role.

As an RNIB ECLO, you will also complete the RNIB & City University Eye Clinic Support Studies qualification: essential for the role, access to Clinical Supervision, peer support and the opportunity to support RNIBs priority of no diagnosis without support.

About us

HOW TO APPLY:

To be considered, candidates are required to submit their CV and a Supporting Statement which responds to the following:

What interests you about being an ECLO and what skills and qualities do you feel you would bring to the role?

Using examples, tell us about your experience in delivering advice or information services.

Using examples, demonstrate how you have worked with people using person-centred care approach.

Using examples, tell us how you have worked with colleagues across health, social care or community services demonstrating your understanding of each professionals role.

Using examples and highlighting your communication styles and skills, tells us about your experience of influencing or motivating other professionals, resulting in positive outcomes for customers.

Using examples please demonstrate your IT Literacy, knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and your understanding of the importance of Information Governance in handling customer records.

Job responsibilities

This is an exciting opportunity to join RNIBs Eye Care Support Service.

In this role, you will be a vital member of the team working directly with people diagnosed with conditions causing sight loss, their family members and carers. You will provide critical emotional support, information and guidance via telephone or digital platforms or in community locations and as required.

Each day you will support people affected by sight loss to identify their needs, access information and make informed choices which enable and empower them to maintain their independence.

You will be critical in developing referral pathways and partnerships with Statutory and Third Sector partners, NHS Eye Care Services and community-based partners to develop referral routes, relationships and partnership working to support the needs of people living with a sight condition in Northern Ireland.

Main Accountabilities:

1. Provide advice, information, practical and emotional support, to people of all ages affected by sight loss.
2. Provide a person-centred screening of needs by telephone, in person and via digital platforms, ensuring those affected by sight loss feel more confident about where and how to get support, advice and guidance, signposting and referring patients to a wide range of services and organisations, as identified in the screening of needs.
3. Develop positive working relationships to establish and maintain referral routes with a range of health, statutory and third sector organisations.
4. Provide basic visual awareness training to eye clinic staff and others as required.
5. To provide information and guidance on the certification and registration process for people with sight loss. To support eye clinic staff with the processing of the Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI)
6. Maintain an up-to-date and comprehensive information resource relating to services available for people with sight loss.
7. Support patients, family and carers with advice on falls prevention and refer to available services where appropriate.
8. When needed, act as an advocate for patients to navigate the complexities of the sight loss pathway to ensure they receive appropriate services.
9. Collate and maintain accurate patient records, inputting quality data, using multiple IT systems. Undertake high-quality case recording in line with the highest standards and best practice principles, whilst ensuring compliance with all GDPR and information governance policies and procedures.
10. Engage patients, their family members or carers to gather feedback on the ECLO service. Positively contribute to RNIB evaluation, monitoring and continuous improvement of the service.
11. Attend clinical audit meetings, steering groups, forums and other events to promote the benefits of the service.
12. Positively contribute to a range of local and national ECLO team meetings, networks, training and information events. Attend mandatory ECLO seminars and take responsibility for own CPD.
13. Ensure that specific safeguarding risks, GDPR and regulatory requirements are understood, applied and managed in line with relevant NHS and RNIB policies.
14. Support volunteers within the ECLO service and wider RNIB

Person Specification

Qualifications

1. Proven experience of delivering information and advice services, preferably within a health, social care or community setting.
2. Demonstrable experience of delivering person-centred support to customers and their family and carers.
3. Demonstrable experience of working in health, social care or community support services and understanding the functions of their practitioners.
4. Proven advanced communication skills, including positively influencing other professionals across health, social care or community services.
5. Demonstrable IT literacy with proven experience of working with Office 365 and bespoke systems whilst adhering to GDPR Information Governance Policies and maintaining appropriate customer records.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.