Lynn Head Orthoptist "I manage a team of thirteen orthoptists. The management part of my job takes up a lot of my time but I make sure I still see patients every day – that's important to me."

Lynn is head orthoptist at one of the few remaining eye hospitals. She has both a clinical and managerial role in the hospital.

What does an orthoptist do?

As orthoptists there are many things we do.

We assess ocular motility, which is looking at the movement of the eye, and we also look at visual function, which is looking at how well people see.

The exciting thing about the job is that we see people of all ages from newborn babies to elderly people and also people with a wide range of different conditions. We see people with a squint, which is when an eye turns either inwards, outwards, upwards or downwards and we treat amblyopia, which is reduced vision in one eye. We see people who have diplopia (which is double vision). The variety in the job is part of what makes it both challenging and interesting.

What do you do in your role as a manager?

I manage a team of thirteen staff some full-time some part-time. I'm also responsible for how the department runs and how the staff work. I need to see that clinics are managed well so that patients get seen quickly, especially children because we don’t want them to wait around any longer than they need to.

I manage the budget, which means I make sure there's enough money to pay for all the things we need in the department. I make sure that people get the best service and treatment from our department.

As well as all this I have to make sure the staff get continuing professional development (CPD). I teach undergraduate students who are training to be orthoptists.

Although the managerial side of my job is a big part of it now, I still try to have a clinical role and see patients on a daily basis. I wouldn’t really want to take on a higher managerial role because that would mean not seeing as many patients which is the part of the job I really enjoy, and find exciting and challenging.

How do patients get to see you?

Our patients are referred to us usually from their doctor (GP). The GP sometimes refers them to an ophthamologist first and then to us or sometimes they are referred straight to us. We see the patients in a clinic at the eye hospital. We can sometimes see people who've come to the hospital because they've had had an accident. These may well be people with black eyes who might have fractures around the eye's orbit, or people who've had car accidents and have received head injuries.

We see people with diabetes – they can sometimes have double vision as a result of their illness. They'll be referred to us for treatment if they have a problem.

What did you do to become Head Orthoptist?

I did a diploma course which took three years, this course is now a degree course. I then started in a hospital at the basic level. But my career path changed slightly as I did a course as a student teacher to become a teacher of orthoptics. This was based in a training school within a hospital.

I worked in the training school as a teacher, teaching the diploma course. When the diploma course became a degree I moved to Sheffield University and became a lecturer. Then the job as Head Orthoptist came up I applied and got it so I came back to the hospital.

I really enjoy working in the hospital because it gives me an opportunity to meet so many different people.