Overview
We are looking to hire a Specialist Optometrist to join our team for a fixed contract to cover maternity at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. This is a part-time position, working 15 hours per week.
You will work closely with other Optometrists and Health Care Professionals in order to deliver and develop a comprehensive range of core optometric services to the highest standards of quality and care. You will work as an autonomous practitioner in providing optometric and ophthalmological assessment, diagnosis and management of patients of all ages, including those with varying communication skills.
There will be opportunities and support for professional and career development within the hospital setting. You will work closely with the Ophthalmologists and Orthoptists to develop and deliver core and specialist optometry services to the highest standards of quality and care. You will maintain and manage your own caseload of complex patients, undertake clinical audit and research in line with clinical governance standards, provide clinical supervision to medical students, junior doctors and postgraduate and undergraduate optometry students within the department, and provide postgraduate teaching and training for multiple disciplines within the ophthalmology department.
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust is on an exciting journey with all divisions committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise and advance. We have entered a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN). As part of this collaborative approach, there may be a requirement to work across both the Kettering and Northampton hospital sites, depending on the needs of the service.
Responsibilities
1. To work with the Paediatric Ophthalmology clinics, working with patients of all ages and abilities including those with additional needs, making appropriate management and prescribing decisions in the patients' best interests. These clinics include performing cycloplegic refractions and routine ophthalmoscopic assessments, using specialist equipment such as head-mounted biomicroscopes.
2. To perform accurate subjective refraction for paediatric and adult patients and adult patients of all ages and abilities including patients with additional needs, making appropriate management and prescribing decisions in the patients' best interests to support other clinics, such as corneal specialties and when managing refractive outcomes of other forms of surgery.
3. To work alongside consultants in specialist clinics such as blurred disc, glaucoma, eye casualty and paediatric ophthalmology clinics in the assessment of pathology. This includes conducting thorough and comprehensive assessments, interpreting a range of clinical data and developing management plans for the best treatment and/or intervention required.
4. To perform corneal topography on patients when required, be able to interpret results and initiate onward referral if required.
5. To work independently in hospital and community-based paediatric clinics providing specialist optometric care, management and primary diagnosis of a range of paediatric ophthalmic conditions and refractive presentations, imparting difficult news to parents and relatives in a sensitive manner.
6. To undertake extended role clinics requiring specialist knowledge, experience and further qualifications to comply with local and national guidance and to manage own caseload of patients within these roles. This will involve working under the guidance of a specialist and acquiring skills beyond the scope of practice of a primary care optometrist.
7. To support the delivery of virtual clinics for the relevant specialties.
8. To effectively and professionally carry out management plans for patients, including dictation of referral and discharge letters to other specialties and professionals.
Audit and Teaching
1. To complete mandatory training and organise nationally approved training sessions to provide CPD necessary for registration.
2. To undertake clinical audit of optometry services and be responsible for implementing improvements recommended.
Professional
1. To maintain own professional (GOC) registration and participate in accredited CPD programmes to allow this.
This job description outlines the current main responsibilities of the post. However the duties of the post may change and develop over time and this job description may, therefore be amended in consultation with the post holder.
Organisation context
At Northampton General Hospital we provide general acute services and hyper-acute stroke, vascular and renal services to people living in Northamptonshire. We are also an accredited cancer centre and provide cancer services to a wider population of Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire. We are proud to be the first hospital in the UK to have obtained Pathway to Excellence designated accreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). We celebrate staff achievements and value working as one big team. That is why we talk about Team NGH. We are committed to helping you be the best you can be.
Diversity and inclusion
We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across UHN and help to unleash everyone's full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities. The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We have active networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds, ensuring everyone feels supported and belongs working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals. There may be a requirement to work across both sites depending on service needs.
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