Job summary
The post holder will provide senior clinical leadership of the ARFID Pathway, working closely with the General Manager and the wider CEDS-CYP leadership team to lead the day-to-day clinical operation of the pathway. This is a highly specialist, multi-professional leadership post: the role is open to applicants from a Nursing (Mental Health or Paediatric/Child) or Occupational Therapy background who can evidence highly specialist experience of ARFID, feeding and eating disorders, and neurodevelopmental/sensory presentations in children and young people.

The post holder will provide highly specialist assessment, formulation, triage and consultation for children, young people and their families presenting with ARFID or suspected ARFID, including those with complex, heterogeneous presentations such as learning disability, global developmental delay, sensory sensitivities, neurodevelopmental conditions and physical health comorbidities, in line with the pathway's inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Main duties of the job

• To provide highly specialist clinical leadership of the ARFID Pathway within EL CEDS-CYP, working across Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, Psychology, Speech & Language Therapy, Psychiatry and Paediatrics.
• To provide highly specialist assessment, triage and formulation for children and young people aged 8-18 with ARFID or suspected ARFID, in line with the pathway's inclusion criteria (declining weight, nutritional deficiency, physical sequelae, MEED Red/Amber risk, ONS or NGT feeding) and exclusion criteria.
• To evaluate and monitor eating disorder-related clinical risk on an on-going basis, including physical and psychiatric risk, using the MEED risk framework, and to undertake or oversee basic physical health checks (e.g. height, weight) as part of risk assessment.
• To lead the MDT formulation process for children, young people and their families with complex ARFID presentations and comorbid neurodevelopmental, sensory or physical health needs, drawing on an appropriate conceptual framework and research-based evidence.

About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

• To provide close liaison and, where appropriate, joint working with local CAMHS and paediatric services to ensure equitable access for children and young people with complex, neurodevelopmental or sensory presentations, supporting consultation rather than exclusion wherever appropriate.
• To be responsible for providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive, distressing and emotional information in relation to a child or young person's eating and physical health, where there are often barriers to acceptance or engagement.
• To spend sustained periods of time with children, young people and families who may present with high anxiety, distress or resistance around eating, and who may have additional communication needs; to manage exposure to highly emotional atmospheres and to recognise and defuse risk appropriately.
• To work in ways which are sensitive to the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural, sexual, religious and social backgrounds, and to develop innovative ways of meeting these needs, including working with interpreters where required.
• To be responsible for monitoring, recording and reporting on clinical work, and communicating highly complex clinical information to a variety of recipients (service users, families, carers and professionals) both orally and in writing

Person Specification
Knowledge
Essential

• Highly specialist knowledge and skills in the assessment and management of ARFID, feeding difficulties or eating disorders in children and young people, including physical health monitoring in conjunction with paediatric colleagues.
• Knowledge of, and skill in using, structured, evidence-based interventions relevant to ARFID (e.g. CBT-AR, FBT-ARFID, SOS approach) and the ability to apply these appropriately according to clinical need.
• Highly specialist skills in professional consultation, including offering consultation and advice to multi-disciplinary colleagues and external agencies.

Desirable

• Experience of supervising colleagues from other disciplines.
• Knowledge of quality improvement methodology.

Experience
Essential

• Minimum of four years' post-registration experience of working with children and young people in a multi-disciplinary team in a child and adolescent mental health, paediatric or community health setting, with at least two years at highly specialist level.
• Significant experience of working with children and young people with eating disorders, ARFID, or feeding/growth difficulties, including complex and heterogeneous presentations.
• Experience of working with children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, learning disability or sensory sensitivities, and adapting assessment and intervention accordingly.

Desirable

• Previous experience of managing or leading a clinical team or pathway.
• Experience of routine use of CAMHS or paediatric clinical outcome measures and facilitating their use across a service.
• Service development, quality improvement or audit experience.

Education, Training and Qualifications
Essential

• Masters or Doctorate level qualification in relevant field
• Current registration with the NMC as a Registered Nurse (Mental Health or Child/Paediatric field) OR current registration with the HCPC as an Occupational Therapist.
• Degree level qualification in Nursing or Occupational Therapy, or equivalent professional qualification.

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification or specialist training in eating disorders (e.g. CBT-AR, FBT-ARFID, CBT-E, FT-AN).
• Leadership or management qualification/training.

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).