Job summary
- Main area
- Ophthalmology
- Grade
- NHS Medical & Dental: Senior Clinical Fellow
- Contract
- 24 months (Fixed term)
- Hours
- Full time - 40 hours per week (including 1:7 on call)
- Job ref
- 435-MQ22-25
- Employer
- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Blackburn Hospital
- Town
- Blackburn
- Salary
- £61,825 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 25/03/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Senior Clinical Fellow in Ophthalmology
NHS Medical & Dental: Senior Clinical Fellow
At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work.
Job overview
The post holder will be expected to work closely with colleagues and management in developing the ability of the department to respond to operational pressures together with clinical governance and longer-term service strategies.
Proposed Outline Job Plan for the post holder will include as a minimum 1 theatre session, 1 admin, 1 audit/study plus specialty/general clinics and laser sessions dependent on your level of competence and the subspecialty.
The successful applicant will be required to participate in medical and clinical audit arrangements in the Trust.
On Call Arrangements
The post holder will be required to participate in a 1 in 7 on call rota.
Administrative Arrangements
The successful applicant will have access to office accommodation and secretarial support.
The post holder will have a named Mentor within the Directorate.
Continuing Professional Development and Research
The post holder would be expected to develop and maintain a programme of continuing professional development in accordance with the recommendations of the NHS and the Royal College of Ophthalmology. The post holder would also be expected to contribute to the research output in the department, and support current ongoing projects during his/her research sessions.
Main duties of the job
Introduction & Background
The successful applicant will join a Consultant led clinical team covering all aspects of Ophthalmology services. This is a fixed term post for 24 months.
The Eye Unit provides a comprehensive Ophthalmology service with a catchment area of approximately 521,000 people.
The service encompasses of outpatient clinics (conducted at the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Teaching Hospitals), an emergency eye service at Burnley General Teaching Hospital and a dedicated twin theatre suite based on the Burnley site. In addition, we have outreach clinics at Accrington, Rossendale and Clitheroe. The medical team includes Consultants, Associate Specialists, Specialty Doctors, Staff Grades and also trainees at ST 1 - 6 level. There is a subspecialty lead structure in place. The current medical staff is as follows:
Mr Bertie Fernando |
Clinical Director (Eyelid, Lacrimal and Oculoplastics) |
Mrs Rajitha Ajit |
Consultant (Eyelid, Lacrimal and Oculoplastics) |
Mr Hasan Usmani |
Consultant (Glaucoma and cornea) |
Ms Salwa Abugreen |
Consultant (Medical Retina) |
Mrs Mey Mohan |
Consultant (Paediatrics) |
Mr Chintan Sanghvi |
Consultant (Diabetes and Medical Retina) |
Mr Philip David |
Consultant (Surgical Retina) |
Mr Vikas Shankar |
Consultant (Glaucoma) |
Working for our organisation
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in 2003 from the merger of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust and the Burnley Hospitals NHS Trust. East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust provides a caring service to a population of approximately 520,000.
Services are provided from two main sites, the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Burnley General Teaching Hospital. The Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Phase V at Burnley General Teaching Hospital are significant PFI developments.
In 2006 a service reconfiguration, ‘meeting patients needs’ was implemented which resulted in the Blackburn site becoming the centre for all acute services in East Lancashire. The ED at Blackburn is the only ED for East Lancashire and since 2012 has become a Trauma Unit in the Lancashire Trauma network with the trauma centre at the Royal Preston Hospital. The ED is supported by Urgent Care Centres at Blackburn and Burnley and a Minor Injuries Unit at Accrington.
Burnley is the site for the East Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre with an in-patient obstetric unit. There is a midwife led birthing unit off the Hospital site in Blackburn
In 2012 the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital was designated as one of the Lancashire Vascular Centres.
The Trust has close links with a number of Tertiary Centres in Lancashire, Manchester and Liverpool.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The medical team work closely with the nursing team and also with a range of technical, orthoptic and optometrist staff who offer support with visual field tests, OCT, photography, Glaucoma screening, follow up and other extended clinical roles.
Outpatient Department (RBH)
The outpatient department is a purpose built unit consisting of clinic rooms with state of the art computer and digital dictation equipment. There are dedicated rooms for visual field assessment, orthoptic assessment, OCT, FFA, Pascal, SLT and YAG Laser, Intravitreal injections and Minor Operations.
Clinics
A variety of general and specialist clinics take place. These include Cataract, Medical Retina, Cornea, Diabetic Eye Disease, Macular, Glaucoma, Paediatric Ophthalmology, Oculoplastics and Intravitreal injections. In addition there are Nurse led A&E, Cataract, Glaucoma and Intravitreal injection clinics.
The Unit also runs an emergency service based at Burnley General Teaching Hospital.
Surgery
The Unit performs around 4,686 operations a year of which a significant proportion are Phacoemulsification procedures, the vast majority of which are undertaken under topical anesthesia. In addition there is a well-established Vitreo-Retinal, Oculoplastic, Paediatric and Corneal Transplantation, Glaucoma and medical retina service.
There are two dedicated Ophthalmic theatres with modern microsurgical facilities, two Infinity Phacoemulsification machines and an constellation machine that was recently acquired for Vitreoretinal surgery.
The strategic aims of the Ophthalmology Department are:
- To provide up-to-date, friendly and efficient care in areas of general ophthalmology and to facilitate referral to specialist care as appropriate.
- To keep waiting times for outpatient and inpatient care within the Trust guidelines.
- To work with NICE, CCG, or local guidelines for the best provision of care within established financial boundaries
- To meet standards set out in government directives e.g. "Action on Cataracts", and to formulate and follow pathways formulated for such purpose .
Person specification
Registration
Essential criteria
- Registered with GMC
Education
Essential criteria
- MB BS or equivalent
- Specialist Training (or equivalent) in Ophthalmology
Desirable criteria
- Diploma in Ophthalmology or Higher Degree
- Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (or equivalent)
- Experience in glaucoma
Experiance
Essential criteria
- 2-3 years as an Ophthalmic SHO or equivalent
- 4 years as Ophthalmic Registrar/ST or equivalent
- experience of working in an emergency setting/eye clinic
- Broad general ophthalmic training
- Good surgical skills including independent cataract surgery
Desirable criteria
- Research experience
- Surgical experience at Registrar/ST level
- Subspecialty interest- glaucoma
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mr Bertie Fernando
- Job title
- Clinical Director for Ophthalmology
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01282 805252
- Additional information
Ms Chintan Sanghvi
Consultant Ophthalmologist & Educational Lead
01282 804162
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