Job Description

Join our outstanding day surgery unit at Tewkesbury Community Hospital as an Ophthalmology Theatre Scrub Practitioner! We seek a skilled professional with extensive ophthalmology scrub experience to deliver exceptional care in our high-performing team.



Our hospital excels in local and general anaesthetic procedures, including ophthalmology, ENT, and orthopaedic day surgeries, led by expert, friendly consultants from Cheltenham and Gloucester. Our warm, collaborative environment boasts top staff survey results and 100% patient feedback scores. Enjoy modern facilities, flexible schedules, and professional growth.



As a Band 5 Ophthalmology Scrub Practitioner at Tewkesbury Community Hospital, your key responsibilities are below, however a full outline of duties, roles and responsibilities can be found in the job description:



Preparing the operating theatre for ophthalmology procedures, ensuring sterile conditions and equipment readiness for cataract, and ocular plastic eye surgeries. Assisting surgeons during operations by providing instruments, sutures, and supplies with precision and efficiency. Maintaining strict aseptic techniques to prevent infection and ensure patient safety. Monitoring and managing surgical equipment, ensuring functionality and availability. Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, including consultants, anaesthetists, and ODPs, to deliver high-quality care. Verifying patient identities, consent forms, and surgical site markings to uphold safety protocols. Assisting with patient positioning and draping to facilitate surgical access. Managing intraoperative documentation, including swab and instrument counts. Supporting training of junior staff and sharing ophthalmic expertise. Engaging in continuous professional development to enhance clinical skills. Ensuring timely theatre turnover for efficient day surgery schedules.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the /Person Specification.



We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.



Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:



72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.

76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.

81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.



This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.



The day surgery Theatre department at Tewkesbury Community Hospital cares for patients undergoing ophthalmic, orthopaedic, and ENT surgery. This role primarily supports the cataract service, providing safe, individualised, high-quality patient care within a community setting to ensure a positive experience for patients and their relatives or carers. The post holder will deliver effective, current, and evidence-based care, working within a small, friendly team and prioritising patient-centred care.



The post holder will support students and junior staff, pursue their own professional development, and adapt to changing situations in the Theatre department to ensure the smooth running of operating lists. They will be flexible with shift allocations (Monday to Friday) to meet service demands, act as the patients' advocate in all peri-operative roles, and undertake delegated tasks from the Theatre Manager or Senior Theatre Nurse to assist with the department's effective operation. They will be a team player, supporting colleagues wherever possible.



We provide a Multi-professional preceptorship programme that is aligned to the National Preceptorship Framework for Nursing and have been awarded the Interim quality mark from NHS England. Our programme is provided to all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners. In addition to the programme we also offer all preceptees the opportunity of enrolling and completing the level 7 (Masters) 15 credit validated module "Preceptorship for Healthcare" (AP7026).



The Trust is required to work in line with the Government's UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit - https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas