Job summary
- Main area
- Ophthalmology Outpatients WXH
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 259-7950021WXH
- Employer
- Barts Health NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Whipps Cross University Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £63,665 - £70,887 per annum inc
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/05/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 20/05/2026
Employer heading
Ophthalmology Matron
Band 8a
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting their staff through the distress of miscarriage.
We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.
Job overview
This is an exciting new Matron post within the department of ophthalmology based at Whipps Cross Hospital. The ophthalmology unit has a busy outpatients, full optometry service, pre op assessment, 2 dedicated ophthalmology operating theatres and a recovery area. We are a high volume low complexity centre (HVLC) for North East London for ophthalmology surgery. We also have a stand alone Eye Casualty Monday – Friday 9-5. The service has multiple opportunities for nurse led initiatives and development opportunities. The post holder will work closely with Nurse Managers, Service Managers, Optometry Lead, Ophthalmology Consultants and our Nurse Consultant to ensure a consistent high level of care is delivered across the service, and to ensure the nursing team has the right skills to deliver world class standards of patient care and experience.
This is an excellent opportunity for a registered nurse with extensive ophthalmology experience including advanced nursing practice to work strategically within a busy and complex Trust. The successful candidate will have specific clinical sessions within the ophthalmology service as well as time to lead and assist in the development of the wider ophthalmology service.
Main duties of the job
This role provides key strategic oversight for the Surgical & Cancer division at Whipps Cross Hospital, specifically in the Eye Treatment Centre. The post holder provides innovative clinical and professional leadership to nursing at all levels within the service group, ensuring nursing care is delivered to a high standard and the nursing resource is managed effectively. This will be achieved by the post holder supporting and providing leadership to the band 7 nurses within clinics, eye casualty and theatres including the PDN. The post holder will be required to work collaboratively within the wider division and be supportive of nursing leads in these areas in their delivery of safe and compassionate care. The post holder is responsible for maintaining the standards as identified by the Care Quality Commission and other regulatory bodies, supporting quality improvement projects and supporting the multidisciplinary team to take forward the division’s quality and safety agenda. This post combines clinical expertise (including the use of advance practice skills in i.e injection clinics), leadership and educational/research skills with managerial and professional responsibilities.
Working for our organisation
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Must hold First‑level degree (BSc/BA) in Nursing or equivalent relevant professional certification or be working towards such
- Evidence of completion of a leadership programme, or equivalent experience demonstrating development of leadership capabilities.
- Post‑registration qualification in ophthalmology, or demonstrable equivalent ophthalmic specialist training.
- Must hold current professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Desirable criteria
- Master’s degree or equivalent postgraduate qualification.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Evidence of practical experience working within an ophthalmology service, undertaking clinical and operational responsibilities relevant to the role including: - Intravitreal injections within scope of practice or equivalent advanced ophthalmic procedural experience - Service delivery and day‑to‑day operational decision‑making - Managing and developing staff - Leading or contributing to action plans arising from external reviews or inspections (e.g. CQC)
- Evidence of practical experience managing the operations of a clinical ophthalmology service, including workforce planning, monitoring performance indicators (e.g. clinic utilisation, waiting times), and implementing remedial actions.
Desirable criteria
- Experience working within ophthalmology subspecialties (e.g. cornea, oculoplastic, glaucoma) as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
Multidisciplinary Working
Essential criteria
- Evidence of working collaboratively with professionals from different disciplines to deliver services or patient care.
Service Improvement
Essential criteria
- Experience of contributing to service improvement, quality initiatives, or operational changes (e.g. improving patient and staff experience, increasing efficiency, reducing harm, etc.)
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of formal QI qualification
Leadership or Supervision
Essential criteria
- Evidence of supervising staff including taking responsibility for their work activities and performance, providing mentoring, training, or other support as required.
- Evidence of negotiating and influencing to achieve service or team objectives and finding solutions to problems in challenging situations.
- Upholds and demonstrates leadership qualities including accountability for own and other’s decisions and actions.
- Evidence of promoting, monitoring and maintaining health, safety and security standards in the workplace.
Desirable criteria
- MBA qualification or working toward one
Communication Skills
Essential criteria
- Evidence of communicating complex clinical data clearly and appropriately with relevant nursing and operational teams to influence decision making.
- Evidence of communicating workforce-related information with the relevant staff group to influence a positive change.
Organisation and Prioritisation
Essential criteria
- Evidence of managing competing priorities, deadlines, or workload demands to an effective outcome aligned to operational and/or strategic objectives
IT and Digital Systems
Essential criteria
- Evidence of using MediSIGHT, Cerner, Zeiss Forum and Heidelberg Heyex or equivalent electronic patient record to review and document patient information
- Evidence of using Datix or equivalent electronic incident reporting systems to record and investigate incidents
- Evidence of using MS Office 360 to manage, analyse and present data
Governance and Risk
Essential criteria
- Evidence of an understanding of Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), applying learnings from incidents and implementing risk mitigation.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Experience of budget and financial management relevant to role responsibilities.
- Understanding equality, diversity and inclusion principles, and how these are applied in the workplace.
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Ibrahim Hemaida
- Job title
- Senior Nurse
- Email address
- [email protected]
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