Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (Dublin)

at  Vision Ireland

Job Title: Vision Ireland Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO)
Reporting to: Chief Service Officer or designee
Location: Acute Hospitals, Dublin (Royal Victoria, Eye and Ear Hospital and Childrens Health Ireland)
Closing date: 31st January 2025

SUMMARY:

Vision Ireland is the national sight loss agency. We are a not-for-profit charity, which offers support and services to people of all ages who are experiencing difficulties with their eyesight.
The successful candidate will join an evolving team focused on ensuring no patient or family goes through an ophthalmic diagnosis alone.

SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Qualification in Social Care / Rehabilitation or significant other Allied Health qualification or experience in an eye clinic or similar setting.
Knowledge of community and social work including acute services and functions of professionals within the eye health field.
Understanding of the need to involve patients, families and carers in assessing needs, accessing services and service development.
Experience of involving patients in service planning is desirable.
Ability to influence and motivate other professional disciplines to respond appropriately to the needs of people with sight loss.

TEAM WORKING SKILLS

Ability to communicate effectively with medical and other hospital staff in a professional manner and to develop and maintain appropriate positive relationships with eye clinic staff, people accessing the service and local agencies, and represent Vision Ireland at a corporate and service level.
Ability to influence and motivate other professional disciplines to respond appropriately to the needs of people with vision impairment.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a structured way and with a range of individuals, both verbally and in writing.
Experience of the preparation and delivery of presentations to varied audiences in a manner which meets their needs.
Ability to listen to and have empathy with patients and their families whilst remaining impartial and non-judgemental.

PLANNING AND ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS

Ability to organise and manage time effectively and to prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines.
Flexibility and adaptability in order to meet the demands of the role and to work within varying locations and different settings.
Ability to work on own initiative and liaise with ECLO team and Manager as and when required.
Knowledge of a variety of data collection tools and the ability to collect quality data in a systematic way. IT literate and competent in the use of Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel and databases, or equivalent.
Other Requirements
Travel as required.
Candidates must be eligible to work full time within the EEA.
Availability to work flexible hours when required
Professional level of English required.
This role is eligible for Garda vetting.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

In the hospital setting, from the point of diagnosis, provide timely information on eye conditions and services available, and practical and emotional support to patients of all ages affected by vision impairment, and their families and carers, whilst adhering to Practice and Policy Guidelines.
Conduct an initial screening of needs, supporting patients to be engaged and empowered around any medication compliance
If agreed with the patient, complete referral(s) to habilitative/ rehabilitative/ reablement supports and relevant services.
Act as the key contact person to support clinic patients, family members and carers to navigate their way through in hospital and community supports during all stages of the sight loss journey.
Develop positive working relationships with healthcare professionals, statutory bodies and community health service providers to facilitate a needs-led, patient centred approach to service provision.
Maintain an up-to-date, appropriate and comprehensive local information resources relating to services available for people who are blind or vision impaired.
Engage with staff about the benefits of the ECLO Service, including providing ECLO induction, visual awareness and disability awareness training to eye clinic staff with particular emphasis on the teams during six monthly rotation.
Attend Vision Ireland Team Meetings and training events, taking responsibility for maintaining CPD, and engage with monthly external individual supervision.
Attend in hospital clinical audit meetings / steering groups / quality forums and other events to promote the benefits of the service to eye clinic, healthcare staff and other social care professionals.
Collate and maintain accurate patient records and input quality data using common data collection tools provided by Vision Ireland and the HSE, in line with GDPR (and Vision Ireland/Hospital privacy policy).
Support in evaluating service impact of the ECLO Service across eye clinic(s).