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 BHRUT.

The ophthalmology team includes 12 ophthalmologists, 6 orthoptists, optometrists, ophthalmic technicians, and nursing colleagues. Orthoptic support is provided at Queen's hospital, 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-specialty services including the in-house ophthalmology accident and emergency service, glaucoma, anterior segment, adnexal, and medical retinal. 

The department is a validated teaching centre for orthoptic undergraduates, as well as providing clinical teaching to other health care professionals. 

This post would ideally suit those who are awaiting their results or qualified from the Msc Pre-registration course or Orthoptic graduates looking to develop their career.   

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide a high quality orthoptic service providing assessment, diagnosis and treatment to all patients referred to orthoptics as an a to meet the needs of a modern UK eye service.

The post holder will also work as an active member of a multidisciplinary team including participation in perimetry (automated and manual), Heidelberg retinal tomography and optical coherence tomography including support to other services.

The post offers the opportunity to expand and develop orthoptic practice with an interesting and varied workload requiring orthoptic assessment and treatment for both paediatric and adult patients.Proactive continuing professional development is expected and enhanced by an ophthalmology teaching programme. 

Working for our organisation

We’re an organisation that is getting better and better and our improvements are driven by a determination to deliver care we’re proud of and our patients are happy with. 

They are benefitting from a new electronic patient record (we were the last acute trust in London to introduce one) and our maternity services have been rated good by the Care Quality Commission. 

We operate from two main sites – KGH in Goodmayes and Queen’s Hospital in Romford. We have two busy emergency departments with more than 346,000 people visiting them last year. We’re campaigning to secure the £35m we need to transform the A&E at Queen’s and get rid of corridor care. 

We’re proud of our regional Neurosciences Centre, Radiotherapy Centre and Hyper Acute Stroke Unit. We’re also part of the North East London Cancer Alliance. 

We run a Women’s Health Hub in Ilford; an Ageing Well Centre in Hornchurch; and Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) at Barking Community Hospital and at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub. These CDCs are open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

The majority of our 8,400 staff – who come from 146 different countries - live in the three diverse London boroughs we serve and are from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Many can work flexibly and more than 400 of them are on our Ofsted accredited apprenticeship programmes. We’re proud to be a London Living Wage employer.