Job overview

Are you a Registered Orthoptist looking to develop your career within an Acute setting? If so, this role may be just what you are looking for! 

You will have excellent interpersonal skills, with a dynamic and proactive approach as a strong leader part of a small team within the West Norfolk Eye Unit, reporting into the Surgery Division.

Your role will be key to supporting the service through the ongoing challenges within the current climate of the NHS, particular focus will be to ensure our young demographic of patients are progressed through assessments and treatment.

Within this role you will ensure the provision of high quality Orthoptic service to outpatients and inpatients. We require you to provide a high standard of Orthoptic treatment and advice which is appropriate to the needs of the patient as directed by the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS) and the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC). 

We welcome informal inquiries and visits - please contact recruitment at [email protected]

Main duties of the job

You will utilise your highly specialist knowledge and highly developed skills to perform accurate testing with orthoptic equipment and show a willingness to supplement knowledge with further education.

As an autonomous practitioner, you will be responsible for the Orthoptic assessment, diagnosis and management of patients referred to the Orthoptic Department from any speciality including, paediatrics the Stroke ward, Eye Casualty, Community-led clinics, Neurology and Endocrinology.

You will be responsible for the evaluation of visual acuity, binocular functions and ocular motility disorders in all patients referred to the service including infants with congenital and developmental abnormalities, children and adults with complex needs and/or learning difficulties and patients with neurological conditions.

You will assess patients in Outpatient and Inpatient departments, tailoring your practice to their needs to enable accurate diagnosis and management of all Orthoptic conditions. You will need to analyse, compare and interpret a range of options for each patient underpinned by experience, theory and additional learning where required.

Working for our organisation

There’s never been a more exciting time to join TeamQEH.  We’re working on a once in a generation opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art hospital to open in 2030 and we are also carrying out on one of the biggest pieces of digital transformation work we’ve ever undertaken.

Our new electronic patient record (EPR) will replace paper-based patient records from 2026 and will lead to better, safer, joined-up care at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and beyond.

At The QEH we provide a comprehensive range of specialist, acute, obstetrics and community-based services to around 331,000 people across west and north Norfolk, North Cambs and South Lincs. 

We are an ambitious organisation that upholds our values of kindness, wellness and fairness. We strive for continuous quality improvement, recently demonstrated in our 2024 CQC maternity inspection rating our services as ‘Good’, and we are proud to be a place to learn and grow through recognised learning and apprenticeships. 

We recognise and reward our 4,000 staff and volunteers, priding ourselves on a community atmosphere and positive team spirit.  We have approx. 530 beds across 33 wards and have newly built education and training facilities, a range of modern award-winning centres alongside a talented team of people ready to give you a warm welcome.  We love working here and think you will too.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information about this exciting opportunity.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Member of Health Professional Council (HCPC)
• Professional/clinical knowledge acquired through degree, supplemented by advance training to masters level or equivalent experience
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Desirable criteria

• Member of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS)*
• Willingness to undertake further education/training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Post-registration experience, including experience of services such as general orthoptics, paediatrics, community and willingness to extend to other specialties.
• Audit and clinical governance experience
• Evidence of on-going training and development
• Clinical teaching experience with Optometrists and Medical Students

Desirable criteria

• Experience leading projects and/or training

Applications are welcome from anyone who meets the criteria specified in the person specification regardless of age, gender, disability, race ,ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation or other personal circumstances. Only those applicants who demonstrate in the application form how they meet the criteria in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We not only recruit employees based on their qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who possess and can demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our core values.