Specialist Optometrist

The South East London Diabetic Eye Screening (SELDESP) Optometrists undertake Fundus and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) capture, Slit Lamp retinal examinations, assessment of Optical Coherence Tomography scans and grading of digital retinal images as well supporting the highest standards of clinical governance via audit and quality assurance activities.

We currently have a vacancy for a specialist Optometrist to work predominantly across sites in Bexley & Greenwich, with some travel required to all of the other screening locations in the South east London programme, based in Bromley, Southwark, Lewisham and Lambeth.

The successful applicant will be an enthusiastic professional who is comfortable working independently in a busy clinical environment, as well as work as part of a large screening team and able to deliver the highest standards of patient care. The successful candidate will be part of the senior clinical team so being able to make sound clinical judgements, be flexible in their working approach, able to manage a busy workload and have a willingness to support and be part of service improvement projects.

Ideally we are looking for Optometrists who already possesses the City and Guilds Diploma in Retinopathy Screening or the Level 3 Diploma in Health Screening, or has demonstrable knowledge or experience in working within a Medical Retina environment. We would also welcome applications from registered Optometrists who are willing to undertake the Diploma.

• Independently managing specialised Slit Lamp clinics across South East London (predominantly in Bexley & Greenwich)
• Capturing & interpreting fundus images using a mydriatic camera
• Capturing and interpreting OCT scans
• Interpreting and grading patient encounters within local and national timeframes and providing accurate outcomes to the patient.
• Leading on clinical audits
• Carrying out annual clinical revalidations for the clinical team

The South East London Diabetic Eye Screening Programme is one of the largest eye screening programmes in the country, offering screening to over 100,000 patients. The multi-disciplinary screening team includes Optometrists and specialist Screeners qualified with the Diploma in Health Screening.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

We are among the UK’s busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark.

We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and – as part of King’s Health Partners – we are one of England’s eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research’s biomedical research centres, established with King’s College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities

The Optometrist is a key member of the screening service and is responsible for delivering quality, patient focused, care as well as contributing to the highest standards of clinical governance. Principle areas of responsibility for this role are undertaking Slit Lamp Bio-microscopy examinations, assessing Optical Coherence Tomography scans as well as clinical audit, training and contributing to continual service improvement.

The role is expected to work predominantly across the following clinic sites:

• Queen Marys Hospital
• Royal Arsenal Medical Centre
• Eltham Community Hospital
• Garland Road Health Centre

With occasional working across the following:

• Beckenham Beacon Hospital
• Orpington Hospital
• Tessa Jowell Health Centre
• Lewisham Hospital
• Waldron Health Centre
• Guys Hospital
• St Thomas' Hospital
• Gracefield Gardens Health Centre
• West Norwood Health Centre
• Aylesbury Health Centre

Principal responsibilities:
1. Undertake slit lamp bio-microscopy screening clinics to grade and refer diabetic retinopathy and any other condition as deemed necessary under the direction of the clinical lead. This includes making patient assessments and clinical decisions regarding patients’ eye health, testing visual acuity and installation of eye drops according to protocol.
2. Assist in the delivery of induction programmes for newly appointed staff,and train/ supervise trainee Screener/ Graders, including assessing the screening team’s initial and ongoing training and development needs;
3. Provide patients with complexwritten and verbal information about diabetic eye disease and other eye conditions, including cataracts and glaucoma;
4. Grade digital retinal images for the presence of diabetic retinopathy, to referral outcome level, in line with local and national guidance;
5. Undertake clinical audits as and when required, reporting findings to the Programme Manager and Clinical Lead;
6. Maintain a high level of professional continuing education and training to function effectively in an advancing and dynamic field;
7. Mentor, teach and assess screeners/graders in order to attain accreditation of the Diploma in Health Screening;
8. Provide accurate and timely information as required by the Programme Manager or Clinical Lead;
9. Actively participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings including presenting audit findings;
10. Cover retinal screening clinics in locations across the programme in the case of emergency;
11. Identifying conflicting outcomes between ophthalmology and the screening programme, advising the Programme Manager and Clinical Lead accordingly;
12. Ensure the appropriate reporting and investigation of any clinical and non-clinical incidents relating to the screening and grading of patients, feeding back where appropriate to team members and patients;
13. The post holder may be required to work some Saturdays on a rota;
14. Liaise with the primary health care team (GPs, diabetes specialist nurses) and secondary care team, ensuring that the service is responsive to needs;
15. Be proactive in offering health promotion and participate in health promotion activities;
16. Contribute to the appraisal of the clinical team to improve standards of care and compliance with Care Quality Commission standards;
17. Ensuring that outcome data on those patients requiring slit lamp biomicroscopy assessment due to ungradable images is returned the screening administration office;
18. Undertake patient assessment using visual fields equipment, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), biometry, contact tonometry and interpret results;
19. To undertake other duties as requested from time to time as are consistent with the post.