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Job overview

Maidstone Eye Unit is a dynamic training environment for Ophthalmic Professionals. The Opticians Department is adjacent to the Orthoptic department and works closely with other professionals in the eye unit including 17 Consultant Ophthalmologists, who offer specialist services in: Glaucoma, Anti-VegF, Oculoplastics, Vitreo-Retinal, Medical Retina & Diabetes, Paediatric Ophthalmology, Cornea and Ophthalmic A&E.  

The department is staffed by 8 Optometrists across 3 sites, each with their own interest and sub-specialities.  All are experienced in working with Pre-Registrations and are actively involved in the supervision and training for the Pre Registration Optometrist.  The department provides a range of Optometric Services including:

• Low Vision Services
• Complex Contact Lens Service
• Complex Refractions (& dispensing)
• Paediatric Refractions
• Ocular B-Scan Ultrasound
• Optometric Shared Glaucoma, Cornea & Neuro-ophthalmology Clinics
• Research

Main duties of the job

Throughout the year we accommodate visiting Pre-registered Optometrists from community opticians, who attend the Opticians department.  We find this helps Pre-Registered Optometrists in their learning experience within the department. 

You are expected to complete 8 Sessions in the department examining patients attending the clinics. You are fully supervised by the Senior Optometrists who are able to help with any queries.  We like our Pre-Registered Optometrists to be hard working, to take initiative in their work.

Our Optometrists (some of which previously completed their training at Maidstone Hospital) are approachable and friendly; we encourage our Pre Registered Optometrists to take on challenging refractions early on and constantly ask questions that will help increase their knowledge and competence.  Each patient examined by the Pre-Reg Optometrists should be discussed with the Supervising Optometrist and then signed off.  Our main focus is learning from each patient experience.

Working for our organisation

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust in the county of Kent.

The Trust provides a full range of general hospital services and some areas of specialist complex care to around 760,000 people living in the south part of West Kent and the north part of East Sussex.

The Trust’s core catchment areas are Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells and their surrounding boroughs. We work from two main clinical sites: Maidstone Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury. Tunbridge Wells Hospital opened in 2011 and provides single rooms with en-suites for all in-patients – the first of its kind in the country.

We employ more than 7,000 full and part-time staff in a huge range of clinical and non-clinical roles across both of our hospital sites.

Would you like to work flexibly?  In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.

Please contact the Recruiting Manager for an informal discussion should you have any queries relating to the role for which you are applying. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted via an email as soon as possible after the closing date. Should you receive an invitation to attend interview, please confirm or decline your attendance. Interview slots will then be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, that as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system and Human Resources personnel.