Job summary
A rewarding job as a BAND 3 Nursing Assistant in the Oxford Eye Hospital!

The Oxford Eye Hospital, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital (West Wing), is a centre of innovation in Ophthalmology. We are expanding our nursing workforce to further develop our service and continue providing excellent care. As part of this role, there is a requirement to travel to peripheral sites, including community clinics to support clinical activities as needed.

Main duties of the job
We are a busy Ophthalmology Outpatient department treating over 106,000 adults and children a year in the full range of ophthalmology clinics, including an Eye Emergency department. Our team is made up of over several members of staff, including specialist nurses, nursing assistants, band 4 assistant practitioners, Eye Clinic Liaison Officers and a department housekeeper.

As a Band 3 Nursing Assistant you will have a great opportunity to build upon your existing knowledge and skills. Being welcomed as part of our happy, dynamic team you will assist the Doctors and Nurses running clinics for adults and children from Monday to Sunday.

Whilst our main clinics are at the John Radcliffe hospital, as part of this role, you will be expected to support clinical activity across other Trust locations (Satellite community clinics) when cover is required. Our current peripheral sites include community clinic bases in Wantage, Banbury, Abingdon, Witney, Bicester and others. Please note that there is an expectation for flexibility, and should additional peripheral community clinic locations be established in the future, you will be required to travel to these sites as part of your role.

About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.

We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence, and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.

These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

In 2023 NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust proudly signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles

Oxford University Hospitals promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment.

If you want to make a difference with us, come and join our team. Together, we will uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism.

Details
Date posted: 03 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 3
Salary: £25,760 to £27,476 a year per annum pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 321-NOTSS-8187779-B3

Job responsibilities
(Please also see the generic Band 3 JD attached)

Having a confident, outgoing, kind personality with the energy and commitment to providing great quality care, you will interact well with patients and colleagues helping the service to run smoothly and our patients to have a positive experience of their time with us having been treated with respect, dignity and compassion.

In return, we will offer you training and development in order that you can deliver skills such as taking bloods, assessing patients vision and instilling eye drops.

We recognise the valuable role of the Nursing Assistant and as such the Trust has its own Nursing Assistant Academy to promote your education and development. If you dont already have it, you will start with completing The Care Certificate which consists of 15 standards which provide you with fundamental knowledge, confidence and skills to enable you to provide compassionate care to our patients unsupervised.

To be considered for this post we just ask that you have some experience in a healthcare role, communicate well, have a positive, can-do attitude and can demonstrate a real passion for the work we do. If you have never thought about working in eyes before, you will be amazed how interesting the specialty is and dont worry; we will give you a comprehensive induction and you will soon be amazed at how fast your knowledge and skills grow - along with your passion to develop your career in the specialty.

Our working hours are a mix of several shift patterns, including but not limited to, 7:30am/8am to 6:00pm/6:30pm (or later finish, depending on Departmental needs) Monday to Sunday.

We also, often run extra clinics at weekends so there is opportunity to work NHSP too. Driving your own car would be an advantage (but not mandatory) to this position as we do require cover in our community clinics locations throughout the week. We look forward to receiving your application!

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• NVQ 2/3 in care or equivalent experience

Desirable

• Maths and English GCSE

Technical/Clinical/Professional
Essential

• Has up-to-date knowledge of or insight into: Basic Nursing Skills.
• Able to work within a team and make a positive contribution.
• Understands the need to work within the boundaries of the role.
• Experience of working in an outpatient setting or insights into how outpatients' function.
• Previous experience in a healthcare setting.

Desirable

• Has up-to-date knowledge of or insight into: Basic Nursing Ophthalmic Skills.

Knowledge and Skills/Improving Quality
Essential

• Able to use initiative within the boundaries of the role.
• Demonstrates a positive approach to problem solving.
• Demonstrates ability to get on with others and promote teamwork.
• Able to organise self and others to achieve delegated tasks.
• Essential IT skills in order to access required systems such as electronic patient records.

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Willing to undertake self-development activities to improve effectiveness.
• Expresses a genuine desire to work in ophthalmology and/or outpatients.
• Demonstrates valuing others and embraces diversity.
• Achieves agreed objectives in such a way as to develop and enhance working relationships.
• Is sensitive to the impact and implications of decisions and activities on other professionals and the organisation.

Desirable

• Able to work flexibly in changing circumstances.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details
Employer name: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address: John Radcliffe Hospital and Satellite community clinics, Oxfordshire, OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Sister Catarina Oliveira, catarina.oliveira@ouh.nhs.uk, 01865231728

The closing date is 17 November 2026. Apply through our website.