Vitreoretinal Fellow / Medical Retina Vitreoretinal Fellow
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients.We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency.Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
We are delighted to be able to offer opportunities for highly motivated ambitious individuals to join a well-integrated team within the Department of Ophthalmology, in the post of Vitreoretinal Fellow. The posts are available from October/November 2025 for 12 months.This post will be of interest to those who are looking to gain further experience in all areas of vitreoretinal and cataract surgery, including complex cases, advanced techniques and the use of the 3D viewing system. Candidates seeking CESR are welcome to apply and discuss their requirements.
In addition to the challenges of the role, we can offer you a commitment to teaching, education, research and audit.
Main duties of the job
The timetable involves all aspects of surgical retina with general medical retina, AMD and diabetic clinics. There is one general session and four to five theatre lists. There may be flexibility in some of the sessions to cover a specific training need if required.
VR on call commitment 1:2 (weekdays), but no general on call.
Working for our organisation
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
- Freeman Hospital
- Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
- Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
- Newcastle Dental Hospital
- Newcastle Fertility Centre
- Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
- Northern Genetics Service
- Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This post is suitable for Ophthalmologists who are looking for further experience and training in vitreoretinal surgery
Person specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential criteria- Primary Medical Qualification.
- Full GMC registration at time of application.
- MD/PhD or equivalent.
- Completion of core ophthalmology training.
Clinical Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria- Good history and examination skills.
- Ability to formulate a working diagnosis and order appropriate investigations.
- Independent cataract surgery with more than 300 (100 for the MR-VR post) procedures done, able to perform independent laser for retinopexy (not mandatory for the MR-VR fellow)
- More than 3 years’ experience of ophthalmology.
- Previous NHS experience
- Previous experience of surgical retina.
Maintaining Clinical Competence
Essential criteria- Written evidence of satisfactory training to date e.g. workplace assessments.
Teaching
Essential criteria- Experience of teaching undergraduate medical students & Foundation Doctors.
Clinical Governance, Audit and Research
Essential criteria- Completed audit.
- Understanding of research principles.
- Completed audit cycle.
- Evidence of research projects.
Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form
All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment.Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.
Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.
Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.