Orthoptist
Job overview
The Children' Community Orthoptic Service is looking for a hard working, passionate and enthusiastic Orthoptist to join our team of 12 Orthoptists to work across Manchester and Trafford at a number of Community Health Centres and Special Schools.
The position is solely community based and requires exceptional organisational skills. The post holder will be required to work independently without the immediate supervision of other team members.
MFT adheres to the flexible working policy, which is available to all staff, to ensure that you have a healthy work life balance.
Main duties of the job
Reporting directly to the Head of the Children's Community Orthoptic Service, you will be an integral part of the team:
Providing comprehensive, high quality Orthoptic Services as an autonomous practitioner. This requires knowledge and interpretation of professional and departmental guidelines, applying this to patients accessing the community orthoptic setting.
Assessment, diagnosis and management (including onward referral and safe discharge) of new and follow up paediatric patients with strabismus, ocular motility disorders and amblyopia, including children with SEND.
The position will include single handed community paediatric Orthoptic clinics and Special School clinics, joint Orthoptic and Optometry clinics and supporting the paediatric Ophthalmology clinics at Trafford General Hospital.
Working for our organisation
MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We’re creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.
Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you’ll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.
We’ve also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.
We’re proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What’s more, we’re excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.
At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the ‘Supporting Documents’ heading. So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the ‘Candidate Essentials Guide’ that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification.This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how ‘we care for you as you care for others’. Most importantly, it also contains critical information you’ll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.
Diversity Matters
MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post.As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at [email protected].
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Degree or equivalent in Orthoptics
- Registration with HCPC
- Driving Licence
Experience
Essential criteria- Minimum of 3 years post qualification experience
- Experience of working with children with special needs
- Evidence of recent professional development
- Up to date personal development plan
- Experience of working with patients with vision impairment
Clinical Skills
Essential criteria- Manage patient care autonomously
- Ability to work as part of a multi disciplinary team
- Aptitude for working in a caring environment with children of all abilities
- To have a wide understanding of conditions that are referred to the orthoptic service and the treatment plans that are required
- Ability to contribute to clinical pathway delivery
- Experience of clinical audit
Management Skills
Essential criteria- Planning and organisational skills
- Self directing
- IT skills
- Knowledge and experience of clinical audit
Interpersonal skills
Essential criteria- Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of patients including those with SEND
- Counselling skills to support patients and families coping with high levels of stress
- Strength of character to cope with occasional highly distressing situations
Circumstances
Essential criteria- Flexible to meet the service needs