Ophthalmic Assistant

**Who are we?**

Newmedica are one of the leading providers of NHS ophthalmology services in England, providing outpatients appointments, diagnostic testing and eye surgery. We aim to change lives through better sight and eye health. We care for more than 225,000 NHS and private patients a year in over 26 locations and we’re growing.

**Role overview**

We are looking for a new Ophthalmic Assistant to join our Newcastle site. This will be 40 hours over 4 days per week including weekends on a rota basis.

It’s a busy role - you’ll be seeing a number of patients each day to take them through a range of diagnostic tests. These will be passed onto a senior clinician to ascertain if surgery or further treatment is required. You’ll be using a variety of different equipment and systems so we’re looking for someone who is comfortable using systems and is fairly tech savvy. You will also have the responsibility of running/assisting in theatre, ensuring that patients receive the highest quality of care and that our theatre team can perform their roles in a seamless and safe manner.

The thought of eye surgery can be a daunting prospect for patients to deal with, so our Ophthalmic Assistants need to be able to put patients at ease. They also need strong communication skills to be able to explain the purpose of the different tests to ensure the patient understands their treatment.

This is a great role to progress your clinical skills or to take the first step on a clinical career path. Newmedica is committed to the growth and development of all our colleagues and the Ophthalmic Assistant is a great platform to potentially explore a career in diagnostic (clinic) or theatre teams

**What skills and experience do I need?**

We’ll provide training so experience isn’t always needed, but the following things will be advantageous:

- Previous experience of working with patients or in a customer facing role
- Knowledge of eye physiology and treatment or a keen interest to build knowledge in this area
- A competent user of all Office 365 programmes & comfortable working on new systems such as patient record systems or diagnostic programmes.
- An excellent grasp of the English language both verbally and in written format
- Experience of dealing with a variety of data for example patient records, GP and patient correspondence and diagnostic test results
- A good team player - happy to jump in and support others when required

**What we’re offering**
- A salary of £22,672
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- A company pension scheme
- Access to a range of benefits including free eye tests, discounted or free glasses, a free 24/7 well-being/counselling/advice service, private medical insurance, private dental care, health care scheme, an opportunity to sign up to a tax-free cycle to work and a retail/technology discount scheme
- An environment where your learning and development is supported through a range of various learning tools and courses
- Working with a friendly multi-disciplinary team passionate about improving the lives of our patients-
- Newmedica is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all people, irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, language, religion, ethnic or social origin._
- We are one of the leading providers of NHS ophthalmology services in England, providing outpatients appointments, diagnostic testing and eye surgery. We aim to make a positive difference to people’s lives through better sight and eye health._