Orthoptist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our friendly team of x9 Orthoptists, x4 Optometrists and x9 Consultant Ophthalmologists at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching hospitals.

The successful post-holder will be required to undertake stand alone Orthoptic clinics, joint refraction clinics and joint adult motility/paediatric sessions working closely with the Ophthalmologists at St Helens Hospital and community sites across St Helens and Knowsley.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, dynamic and highly motivated Orthoptist, ideally with an interest in specific learning difficulties to support the demands of the ever-increasing orthoptic literacy service. Experience in this area is not essential.

An Enhanced DBS with barred lists for both Adults & Children is required for this post.

Main duties of the job

- To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of the clinical workload.
- Adhere to all relevant Codes of Practice within the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) Professional body & maintain an up-to-date professional registration at all times.
- Abide by relevant Code of Professional Practice at all times.
- Provide the Orthoptic service autonomously both in the hospitals and at outreach clinics in the community as required.
- Independently select and perform a broad range of comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative, investigative, diagnostic and therapeutic Orthoptic procedures which require high degrees of accuracy, hand eye co-ordination, acute observation and dexterity. Analyse and evaluate the results to aid diagnosis and differential diagnosis. The patient group includes all ages from early infancy to the elderly and comprises all cases of ocular motility defects, congenital and acquired. It also includes patients with significant learning difficulties and complex medical conditions. Referrals are received from a range of specialities e.g. paediatrics, neurology, maxillofacial, stroke rehabilitation and endocrinology. Direct referrals are accepted.
- Using specialist knowledge formulate individual management and treatment plans using clinical reasoning, a wide range of treatment skills and evidence-based practice.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For more information about this role please see attached job description and person specification.

Advertising Date: 21st October 2025

Closing Date: 28th October 2025

Shortlisting Date: 29th October 2025

Proposed Interview Date: TBC

Please be aware if a sufficient number of applicants are reached, we may close the vacancy early.

Qualifications

- Diploma or Degree in Orthoptics
- State Registration with Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Post Graduate Clinical Tutor qualification or equivalent (level 6)

Knowledge & Experience

- Proven clinical post graduate experience in broad range of adult & paediatric Orthoptic clinical practice
- Evidence of recent continuing professional development
- Previous experience in special educational needs
- Experience in audit
- Previous experience in clinical tutoring of Orthoptics

Skills

- Wide ranging comprehensive clinical skills in the Orthoptic assessment & management of patients of all ages and individual needs
- Excellent communication skills (written & verbal) with all patients, carers, and all other health care professionals
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
- Good planning and organisational skills
- Responsible for independent clinical & administrative decisions
- IT literate

Other

- Outreach clinics in community settings therefore ability to reach locations as needed.
- Transporting notes, equipment and laptop computer to & from outreach clinics
- Working whilst maintaining an awkward posture during patient assessments e.g. kneeling, bending, twisting.
- High levels of manual dexterity to perform tests
- Continued use of computers to access patient case notes
- Continuous decision making in all aspects of investigation, diagnosis & management. Analysis and problem solving.
- Mental agility in assessing a diverse clinical caseload
- Ability to work to high standards of accuracy using analytical skills and judgements continuously when assessing and treating patients
- Ability to break bad news sensitively
- Communication with distressed/anxious/worried patients/carers. Demonstrate empathy.
- Exposure to verbal aggression at times
- Adapt to variability of clinic rooms in hospital and at outreach venues
- Working conditions may be unpleasant with exposure to e.g. fleas, lice, childhood illnesses, MRSA.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update

For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK. Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

- Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

- All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
- There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
- Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is important; we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offers a variety of services.

The Trust is non-smoking across all sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under-represented groups.

If you wish to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

Accessibility

If you require disability reasonable adjustments to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk

Important

The Trust will not accept AI-generated applications and will check all applications against AI detection software.

#J-18808-Ljbffr