Pharmacy Technician

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated orthoptist with excellent communication and organisational skills and with an ability to work alone as well as part of a team to join the ophthalmology service at BHR University NHS Trust, substantive.
The ophthalmology team includes 10 ophthalmologists, 4 orthoptists, optometrists, ophthalmic technicians, and nursing colleagues. Orthoptic support is provided at Queen's hospital, Romford, Essex, which has convenient public transport routes to central London.

The Trust is a major neurosciences centre for northeast London and Essex and the post includes a varied case load supporting mainly paediatric & neuro-ophthalmology sub-specialty services (including Botulinum toxin clinics and adjustable suture surgery patients) and oculo-plastics. Orthoptists also manage their own service as well as orthoptic-optometry joint clinics. Perimetry and tomography are provided as required as part of the multidisciplinary team to other sub-speciality services including the in-house ophthalmology accident and emergency service, glaucoma, anterior segment, adnexal, and medical retinal.

This post would ideally suit those with more than 7 years postgraduate orthoptic experience looking to develop their career. .

Main duties of the job

As an autonomous practitioner, the post holder will provide advanced specialist orthoptic assessment, diagnosis, and treatment as part of a busy multidisciplinary ophthalmology team.

They will be able to work both as a single-handed practitioner as well as part of the ophthalmology team including orthoptists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, ophthalmic technicians, and nurses, providing orthoptic practice to both paediatric and adult patients, including those with complex conditions.

The post holder will also be the lead orthoptist for the orthoptic management of patients referred to the paediatric ophthalmology subspecialty, liaising with the paediatric ophthalmologists, e.g., with triage of referrals (from eye casualty, other specialties, and Trust patient referral pathways) and ensuring best practice paediatric-orthoptics is always provided to meet ophthalmology patients' needs.

In addition to orthoptics and depending on experience, the post holder will provide a shared care extended role in support of the paediatric ophthalmology subspecialty primarily and other subspecialties, e.g., neuro-ophthalmology medical retina, and eye casualty, as required.

The post holder will also participate in undergraduate/postgraduate teaching provided by the ophthalmology service.

Working for our organisation

We provide care for the residents of three diverse London boroughs. Most of our 7,800 permanent staff live in Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge and the majority are from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. We also provide healthcare services to people in south west Essex, and specialist neurosciences services to the whole of the county.

Our services include all the major specialties of large acute hospitals and we operate from two main sites - King George Hospital in Goodmayes and Queen's Hospital in Romford. We have two of the busiest emergency departments in London – more than 300,000 people visited our A&Es in 2023. We also provide outpatient services at Brentwood Community Hospital, Barking Community Hospital, Loxford Polyclinic, and Harold Wood Polyclinic.

We're pleased to be leading the way in wait to get the treatment they need. The Elective Surgical Hub at King George Hospital is one of eight to be ; the Care Quality Commission has raised the ratings for at Queen's and King George hospitals; and showed that the Trust was the most improved in 2023 for reducing waits for emergency care.

We are particularly proud of our regional Neurosciences Centre; Radiotherapy Centre; Hyper Acute Stroke Unit; and dedicated breast care service at King George Hospital. We're also part of the .

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification.

The person specification listed below is not the full specification requirements for the role. Please ensure you review the full specification on the job description prior to submitting your application.

Applicants are advised to read all the information on the advert and the supporting information before completing and submitting an application. As you complete your application please ensure you clearly demonstrate how you meet the criteria in the person specification for this post by adequately completing the supporting information section of the application form.

All new staff appointed at the Trust are subject to a probationary period.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

Essential criteria

Batchelor of science in Orthoptics (BSc (orth.) or BMedSci (Orthoptics) or Diploma in the British Orthoptic Council British and Irish Orthoptic Society membership

Skills / Abilities

Essential criteria

Substantial years varied post-graduate orthoptic clinical experience – adult & paediatric - including complex neuro-ophthalmology cases

Experience / Knowlegde

Essential criteria

Ability to work calmly under pressure in a busy clinic whilst always maintaining high quality orthoptic practice.

Desirable criteria

Clinical experience in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) interpretation and use, slit lamp examination, Volk lens examination and Goldmann applanation tonometry Knowledge of neurological disorders Clinical experience of shared care extended roles. e.g., paediatric-ophthalmology and other subspecialties

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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