Job overview

Newly qualified applicants welcome! 

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated new member of our team to work in Herefordshire and beyond.  We provide Orthoptic services in Herefordshire, Gwent, Powys and Shropshire.

Your orthoptic workload will be extremely varied including paediatric, ocular motility and acute cases via our busy eye casualty. We have an Orthoptic led vision screening programme, an established Stroke Service,  and undertake pre-operative biometry and Goldmann visual fields. 

We currently have medical, pre-reg optometry students and as of September 2024 will be accepting Undergraduate Orthoptic Students. 

You will be expected to develop and maintain a high quality Orthoptic service in line with recognised professional standards, care -pathways and best practice to deliver the business objectives in line with Trusts policies and protocols.

The successful candidate will join a supportive and innovative team of Orthoptists. We have recently developed and improved our Orthoptic provision for children with special educational needs, cerebral visual impairment and neurodivergence.  You will work within a multi-disciplinary team including, technicians, nurses, HCAs and Ophthalmologists.

Applicants must have a degree/diploma in Orthoptics and current registration with the HCPC, we welcome newly qualified applicants and Newly qualified Orthoptists will be supported by the  WVT trust led AHP preceptorship program alongside the Orthoptic preceptorship program.

Main duties of the job

To provide a comprehensive and high quality Orthoptic service for patients referred to the Ophthalmology department. 

To be able to practice independently to ensure that each patient is seen professionally, efficiently, effectively and with a high standard of care.  To work as part of a multidisciplinary team to assess patients, as inpatients or outpatients, from other specialisms. 

To use advanced clinical reasoning to administer suitable tests and form diagnoses. Also make judgements involving complicated facts to create a unique, evidence based treatment plan and gain informed consent.

To assess patients pre-operatively and provide measurements on which surgery for ocular motility problems may be based.

To instil dilating and cycloplegic drops for ophthalmic investigation in accordance with the medical exemptions and/or patient group direction in line with Trust drug policy.

To explain, demonstrate and offer teaching of Orthoptic principles and procedures to junior medical staff, medical students,  optometrists, health visitors, student nurses and health care professionals.

To undertake biometry and keratometry for pre-operative cataract patients.

To be involved in, and contribute to, departmental clinical audit of issues.

To attend an appraisal at least annually and to keep an updated professional personal development portfolio. To participate in mentorship programme and reflective practice.

To contribute to the general running of the Orthoptic department.

Working for our organisation

Wye Valley NHS Trust is a member of an NHS Foundation Group with South Warwickshire NHS FT , the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Located on the border with Wales in the shadow of the Black Mountains, we provide acute and community services across Herefordshire and into parts of Powys and run Hereford County Hospital and the community hospitals in Bromyard, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye.

We are a progressive and forward looking trust with ambitious plans to improve quality and integrate patient pathways through close collaborative working with our partners to deliver the quality of care we’d want for our family and friends.

More than 3,500 people work for the Trust – they tell us it’s a great place to work, blending the busyness of a DGH with the benefits of working in a beautiful rural and unspoilt county like Herefordshire.

We can offer a great work-life balance and have a fine tradition of working with staff to help them achieve their full potential.

Russell Hardy, Trust Chairman: “The strength of the Trust is its amazing staff; a great place to work, a great place to develop your career and a great place to reach your potential.”

Our values - Care, Accountability, Respect and Excellence - are at the heart of all we do. We believe in providing the right care in the right place at the right time…all the time.