Senior Orthoptist

Job description

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.

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

We are delighted to offer an exciting 12-month fixed term opportunity from July 2026 (maternity leave cover) for a Highly Specialist Orthoptist to join our friendly and forward-thinking team as the Education & Neuro-Orthoptic Lead. This is a varied and rewarding senior role, ideal for an Orthoptist seeking to expand their leadership, teaching, and specialist clinical skills. You will lead on education, workforce development, and competency frameworks for the Orthoptic team, while also providing highly specialist neuro-ophthalmology expertise across adult services.

Alongside core orthoptic clinics, you will work within extended roles including adult orthoptics, neuro-ophthalmology, stroke pathways, and community eye services. You will collaborate closely with Ophthalmologists, Neurologists, Optometrists, AHPs, and wider MDT colleagues.

You will be:

* Leading education, training, and competency development for Orthoptists, students, and multidisciplinary colleagues

* Acting as the Neuro-Orthoptic Lead, providing advanced assessment and management of complex neuro-ophthalmic conditions * Delivering high-quality clinical care across hospital, community, special school, and stroke settings

* Supporting extended-role clinics including JI clinics, injection clinics, and stroke rehabilitation

* Contributing to service development, audit, research, and clinical governance

* Teaching medical undergraduates, junior doctors, and other healthcare professionals

Main duties of the job

§ Provide a high-quality orthoptic service as an autonomous practitioner, delivering preventative and therapeutic care in accordance with the professional standards of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS).

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.

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

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant post registration experience across a range of specialist areas including paediatrics, neuro ophthalmology, community services, glaucoma, and visual fields.
• Experience working effectively within uni professional and multi professional teams.
• Experience providing
• Experience delivering teaching to multidisciplinary teams
• Experience contributing to clinical governance, audit, or service evaluation.

Desirable criteria

• Experience leading a specialist service (e.g., neuro ophthalmology, stroke, community).
• Experience leading a specialist service (e.g., neuro ophthalmology, stroke, community).
• Membership of a relevant specialist interest group (e.g., BIOS
• Experience coordinating student placements or acting

Skills

Essential criteria

• Highly specialist clinical skills across the full scope of orthoptic practice, including neuro ophthalmology
• Ability to analyse and prioritise complex clinical information to develop appropriate specialist care plans
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to adapt communication to meet diverse patient needs
• Ability to demonstrate empathy, professionalism, and sensitivity when delivering complex or distressing information
• Ability to demonstrate empathy, professionalism, and sensitivity when delivering complex or distressing information.
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and manage frequent interruptions
• High attention to detail and accuracy in clinical assessment and documentation.
• Commitment to non discriminatory, patient centred practice.
• Ability to maintain professionalism in challenging or emotionally sensitive situations

Desirable criteria

• Advanced presentation or teaching skills (e.g., formal teaching qualification).
• Experience delivering teaching at regional or national level.
• Experience developing competency frameworks or training programmes.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• In depth knowledge of current best practice in orthoptics, including neuro ophthalmology and stroke related visual impairment.
• Understanding of legal responsibilities, professional codes of conduct, and ethical frameworks.
• Understanding of clinical governance, audit processes, and evidence based practice
• Knowledge of MS Office applications and confidence using electronic patient record systems
• Knowledge of Cerner Millennium or equivalent PAS/EPR systems
• Commitment to ongoing CPD and maintaining HCPC standards.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of national neuro ophthalmology or stroke guidelines.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• BSc Orthoptics, BMedSci Orthoptics, or Diploma in British Orthoptics (DBO).
• Current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• Evidence of ongoing CPD in accordance with HCPC requirements

Desirable criteria

• City & Guilds or equivalent teaching/education qualification.
• Membership of the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS).
• Postgraduate training in neuro ophthalmology or advanced clinical practice

Other

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel between hospital and community sites.
• Physically able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable adjustments if required

Visa Sponsorship Information

This role is subject to UK immigration requirements. Where sponsorship is required, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa in accordance with current UK Visas and Immigration rules, including any salary, qualification, and role-specific requirements applicable at the time of appointment. Candidates who require sponsorship will only be considered where the post is eligible and where all sponsorship criteria can be met. Evidence of the right to work in the UK will be required before appointment. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High-Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.

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 where staff treat one another with dignity and respect. We aim to create an equitable working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals' who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.

We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received and we regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to Barts Health NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.

Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.

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