Resource category: Support workforce

This document has been produced to assist orthoptic services review how OCA jobs are designed and specifically to assist in the utilisation of the BIOS’s Developing the Orthoptic Clinical Support Workforce: Education, Experience, Roles and Responsibilities Guide and NHS England’s (NHSE) Allied Health Profession (AHP) Support Worker Competency, Education and Career Development Framework. It provides step by-step advice on engaging staff, project managing, mapping and operationalising effective workforce planning. It also includes advice on job evaluation and delegation, and supervision.

This toolkit has been designed to assist services review their Orthoptic Clinical Support Workforce (OCSW) – those patient-facing staff who work under the supervision of registered orthoptists and who are mostly employed in Agenda for Change Bands 3 and 4.

The toolkit is based on the BIOS Developing the Orthoptic Clinical Support Workforce: Education, Experience, Roles and Responsibilities Guide and complements the BIOS Guide to effective Orthoptic Clinical Support Workforce Planning document, which contains advice on how to review your OCSW and contains other resources you may wish to consult. The appendix of this toolkit contains a description of the national NHS England The AHP Support Worker Competency, Education and Career Development Framework.

This guide is all about recruitment into OCA jobs, specifically the various ways in which orthoptic services, working with others, can increase the number of local people working in them, including from groups that might be currently under-represented in the workforce. Local recruitment brings many benefits with it, such as creating sustainable workforce supply routes and a workforce that better reflects the community it serves. Local recruitment is also a way to work more closely with other Allied Health Professions and external partners, such as colleges and Job Centre Plus.

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Orthoptic and ophthalmic clinical support workers are employed in patient-facing roles and carry out a wide range of tasks assisting registered orthoptists and others. At all levels support workers should be appropriately educated, trained, and supervised with appropriate delegation processes in place.

Working with support staff, the guide should be used to review existing or new Job Descriptions and Person Specifications to ensure that they fully reflect service needs and are up to date. Any substantial change to roles, such as the addition of new tasks, will require agreement with the staff concerned and, if appropriate, their trade union representatives in line with local policies and procedures.