OptometristNHS

Job summary

The Orthoptic and Optometry team at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust consists of a team of seven Orthoptists and three part time Optometrists working closely together with the Consultant Ophthalmologists to provide a high standard of care to our paediatric and adult patients. We work to the Trusts ethos of providing the patient with safe, compassionate, joined-up care. This is a dynamic department with a strong focus on quality which is constantly striving to improve services for our patients and ensure that their experience is as good as possible.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Optometrist to join our team working predominantly with paediatric patients and supporting our general Ophthalmology team. You may be providing multi-disciplinary clinics with the consultant Paediatric ophthalmologist, providing optometry paediatric review.Additionally there may be training opportunities to expand into medical contact lenses through formal training and clinical practice.

Main duties of the job

This band 6 role is involved in the provision of core optometry work to the Orthoptic and Ophthalmology departments and patients; predominantly involving the core paediatric elements of hospital optometry. You will be providing multi-disciplinary clinics with the consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist, providing optometry paediatric review refraction clinics and also working in a collaborative clinic with the Orthoptist. All clinics involve a mix of new and review patients of all ages and abilities, including children with learning difficulties, and involve strong collaborative team working. In addition to skills with dilated retinoscopy you will be required to perform ophthalmoscopy on dilated paediatric patients and work closely with the other team members to manage clinical care. This role gives a unique opportunity to use your knowledge in strabismus and BSV and gain valuable experience in the management of complex cases not available in the private setting. There may be the opportunity to support low vision clinics and undertake formal training to expand into the area of medical contact lenses and support clinical research in conjunction with Ophthalmologists.

Job description

We are looking an enthusiastic Optometrist who can undertake all aspects of the core paediatric Optometry hospital role. You may be providing multi-disciplinary clinics with the consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist, providing Optometry paediatric review refraction clinics and also working in a collaborative clinic with the Orthoptist. All clinics involve a mix of new and review patients of all ages and abilities, including children with learning difficulties, and involve strong collaborative team working. In addition to skills with dilated retinoscopy you will be required to perform ophthalmoscopy on dilated paediatric patients and work closely with the other team members to manage the cases. This role gives a unique opportunity to use your knowledge in strabismus and BSV and gain valuable experience in the management of complex cases not managed in the private setting. Additionally we may be able to offer the opportunity through formal training to expand into medical contact lens clinics. We would encourage you to contact the department for more information on the possible working hours and responsibilities and duties of the post via email. We would consider appointing more than one candidate to share the 0.45 WTE (19 hours) of clinical work so please consider applying if you wanted less than the full advertised hours with the hospital setting.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

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Please note that we may close any vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications have been received.