Job summary
- Main area
- surgery
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 179-7599665-S-B
- Employer
- West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- West Suffolk Hospital
- Town
- Bury St Edmunds
- Salary
- Per Annum, Pro Rata
- Closing
- 18/03/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Orthoptist
NHS AfC: Band 7
Job overview
Join our team; we are looking for an ambitious, self motivated individual to join a friendly orthoptic department.
Main duties of the job
The caseload is varied and will include core orthoptic, adult ocular motility and paediatric clinics linked with the ophthalmologist. Refraction clinics linked to the optometrist and orthoptic led sessions. There will also be support and encouragement to be involved in an extended role.
Working for our organisation
#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community
We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.
The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.
Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.
We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.
With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.
We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.
Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached the job description and person specification for details around the main responsibilities of the job role.
Band 5 Orthoptist (competent practitioner with structured support): You’re expected to deliver safe, effective orthoptic assessment and treatment for the core caseload, working to SOPs/protocols and recognising your limits. You can work autonomously day-to-day, including lone working at times, but you should seek senior advice when needed (e.g., complex presentations, uncertainty, deterioration, safeguarding, or when management needs to change).
Band 6 Orthoptist (autonomous clinician managing complexity and risk): You’re expected to run clinics independently and take clear accountability for your clinical decision-making across a broader and more complex case mix. This includes assessing/diagnosing/managing patients with a wide range of binocular vision and VA abnormalities, organising and prioritising your workload, and acting as an advice resource within your specialist area. Band 6 roles commonly include managing a complex caseload and defined single-handed practice (e.g. community), with escalation to ophthalmology when required.
Band 7 Orthoptist (advanced practice plus leadership and service accountability): You’re expected to combine highly specialist clinical practice (often the “go-to” for complex assessment/diagnosis/management and second opinions) with leadership responsibilities that shape quality, safety, education, and service development. In practice, this means advanced autonomy and complex decision-making, contributing to guideline development/audit/service improvement, and providing senior supervision/teaching across the team and wider MDT. This aligns with the British and Irish Orthoptic Society advanced practice framing (four pillars: clinical, education, leadership, research) and the expectation that advanced practice is characterised by high autonomy and complex decision-making, typically underpinned by Master’s-level capability.
Person specification
Education & Qualification
Essential criteria
- DBO in Orthoptics
- Degree in Orthoptics
- HCPC Registered - B7 only
Desirable criteria
- Understanding of CPD
- Understanding of Visual field testing
Experience & Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Role suitable for newly qualified Orthoptists
- Practices / supports evidence based practice.
- Previous experience in a hospital setting
- Knowledge of NHS waiting times, regulations, and access targets
- Good understanding of current performance targets and the impact of this to patient safety/care
- IT literate and experience working with PAS.
- Data handling and use of databases (e.g. MS Excel)
Desirable criteria
- Experience of inter-professional teaching
- Experience in clinic and patient management/throughput.
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Proven ability in clinical skills
- Good communication skills
- Excellent organisation and time management
- Ability to work under pressure and maintain high standards.
- Maintain / update knowledge of current clinical best practice / clinical audit / research and IT skills
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of a hospital administration system
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- Team worker, who can prioritise effectively and to work autonomously when required.
- Flexible and adaptable, motivated with the ability to motivate others.
- Awareness of own limitations
- Ability to use initiative, referring key decisions as appropriate and understanding aim limitations.
- Flexible approach to working duties
- Attention to detail.
- Polite, respectful, and professional attitude and behaviour towards staff members, patients, and relatives
- Able to influence others and lead as a role model.
- Awareness of the need to maintain confidentially and abide to the data protection act
- Ability to travel to carry out duties of role.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Stuart McGill
- Job title
- Head Orthoptist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01284713817
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