Job summary
Bristol Eye Hospital is inviting applications from enthusiastic and motivated optometrists to join the leadership team in the Optometry Department at Bristol Eye Hospital, leading the optometrists in the Glaucoma Service on a job share basis.
About the role:
You will jointly lead a team of 20 optometrists in an innovative glaucoma service delivering high quality glaucoma care in to the population of Bristol, Weston and the South West of England.
The role is pivotal in managing team performance and professional development, as well as being integral to glaucoma service development and service improvement.
About you:
You are an optometrist with a commitment for service innovation as well as complex clinical work, and have an enthusiasm for the professional and personal development of teams and individuals. You have a high level of clinical experience in glaucoma which will enable you to provide insight into the delivery of a complex service as well as manage a complex clinical caseload. Your highly developed specialist knowledge has been evidenced by a Diploma in Glaucoma and Independent Prescribing, and you also have evidence of clinical and/or systems leadership.
Keen to be fully engaged with the department and Eye Hospital team, you will be able to provide high quality supervision, teaching, and exemplar evidence based practice, as well as actively input into clinical governance across the service.
Main duties of the job
About us:
The Optometry Department at Bristol Eye Hospital is well established and integrated into the multidisciplinary environment of Bristol Eye Hospital, providing clinical management of eye health to people in Bristol, Weston and across the South West of England.
Optometrists in the department are a diverse team of highly capable clinicians who work across a broad range of multi-professional services from highly skilled core optometry to complex and specialised services, including cornea, medical retina, glaucoma, paediatrics and ED.
Frequently engaged with the broader aspects of optometry and eye health, including education, research and leadership, optometrists in the department are encouraged to develop professionally as well as personally.
A glimpse of life at Bristol Eye Hospital: https://youtu.be/he7-XrxIopo
About us
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across South West England. UHBW has been rated by the CQC as 'Good' overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond.
As a forward-thinking multi-award winning Trust and a digital exemplar committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.
UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.
Job description
Job responsibilities
About the Glaucoma Service:
The Glaucoma Service at Bristol Eye Hospital is a specialised service providing secondary and tertiary levels of service to the Bristol area, the South West and further afield.
Optometrists in the glaucoma service provide a significant proportion of the glaucoma care at Bristol Eye Hospital, delivered via face to face new and follow up clinics, as well as the virtual review of patient episodes carried out by the award winning Assessment Centre.
The consultant team, led by Demetri Manasses, includes Rani Sebastian and Michael Greaney. The consultants lead a team of Fellows, specialist trainees, optometrists, ophthalmic nurses, ophthalmic technicians and an ophthalmic imaging team.
The service is well supported by a well-equipped glaucoma unit, and clinics are located at Bristol Eye Hospital and Weston General Hospital as well as our outreach locations.
For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and person specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.
Person Specification
Knowedge and Experience
Essential
- Highly developed and proven specialist knowledge, at Masters level or above, across multiple areas of specialist clinical practice beyond conventional hospital or community optometry.
- Significant specialist clinical experience in assessment & management of patients with active and sight-threatening disease across multiple of areas of-specialist clinical practice.
- Previous evidence of operational management.
- Significant experience in staff management.
- Significant specialist clinical experience in assessment & management of patients with active and sight-threatening disease across multiple of areas of-specialist clinical practice.
- Significant specialist clinical experience in management of patients with ocular/visual manifestations of systemic disease that may threaten general health.
- Previous hospital eye service experience
- Advanced understanding of all relevant national clinical guidance (e.g. NICE guidelines; College of Optometrists guidance; Royal College of Ophthalmologist's guidelines).
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Specialist clinical practice beyond conventional hospital or community optometry.
- Ability to quickly interpret complex and potentially conflicting clinical information.
- Can autonomously provide and directly deliver patient-specific specialist clinical program of care ('clinical management plan').
- Specialist clinical assessment skills for patients with active and sight-threatening disease across multiple of areas of sub-specialist clinical practice.
- Specialist ancillary test interpretation skills (e.g. visual function and ocular imaging tests) as used by specialist medical staff.
- Can teach or; supervise trainees; & address queries from support staff whilst performing clinical duties.
- Must be able to travel to and perform peripheral clinics as required (i.e. locations away from Bristol Eye Hospital).
- Flexibility to use IT systems for recording patient related clinical measures, and for audit.
- Possesses precise, fine-motor physical examination skills.
- Normal binocular vision
Aptitudes
Essential
- Multidisciplinary team working.
- Capable of performing sustained high intensity work in a pressurised clinical environment.
- Capable of quickly resolving operational issues whilst performing clinical duties
- Ability to empathise regarding loss of sight and prognoses including blindness and threats to general health from systemic disease with ocular/visual manifestations.
- Able to organise and motivate a multidisciplinary team & retain credibility with all staff.
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills; ability to communicate complex, sensitive and potentially conflicting information to patients and other stakeholders in an appropriate manner independent of their level of understanding.
- Capable of quickly resolving operational issues whilst performing clinical duties.
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Registration with the General Optical Council
- BSc Hons Optometry or equivalent
- Professional post-graduate specialist qualification(s),at masters level or higher, relevant to job plan (e.g. College of Optometrists Diploma in Glaucoma).
- GOC Specialty Registration in Independent Prescribing)
- Postgraduate masters (or higher) level clinical audit or research experience relevant to sub-specialist practice
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website .
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants .
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW)
Address
Bristol Eye Hospital
Lower Maudlin Street
Bristol
BS1 2LX