Neuro-developmental Pathway Lead

Job Summary

The Neuro-developmental Pathway Lead is responsible for the smooth running of the pathway and for ensuring the provision of an efficient, focused service and for achieving the service's goals. The role will lead the admin and clinical staff in managing the flow of patients through the pathway.

Main Duties of the Job

The Neuro-development Pathway (NDP) Lead will manage daily operations, planning, and performance of the NDP Team, ensuring service delivery is efficient, evidence-based, and focused on the needs of service users and carers. Collaborating with the Senior Management Team (SMT) and other Team Leaders, the post holder ensures timely treatment by motivated staff, promoting safety and success for children and young people.

The role involves building strong community connections, optimizing resources to meet patient needs, and adhering to commissioning priorities from the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and stakeholders. The post holder will oversee referral, assessment, and patient allocation processes, working with senior managers, clinical leads, and team members to meet performance targets and implement improvements as necessary.

About Us

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust is part of North Central London integrated care system, working closely with partners and measuring financial and performance objectives at this system level. We are proud of our staff and want to ensure their training allows them to provide excellent clinical care. We are also a training unit for medical students and for nursing and midwifery students.

Job Responsibilities

• To develop a new neuro-diversity pathway, making excellent use of existing services to improve the experience of neurodivergent children, young people, and their families.
• To reduce inefficiencies by establishing a clear pathway for neurodivergent children and young people, allowing them to see the correct professional in a timely manner.
• To ensure neurodivergent children receive support for their needs according to priorities identified jointly by their families and professionals working together.
• To ensure parents, carers, and professionals working with neurodivergent children have access to high-quality, up-to-date, and relevant information about neurodivergence and services provided in Enfield.
• To use information and experience gathered by other teams in the UK and abroad when planning, designing, and implementing the neuro-diversity pathway.
• To ensure the pathway is developed using the expertise and experience of professionals from a range of disciplines, as well as neurodivergent adults.
• To improve the quality of screening process for neurodivergent children who internalise, rather than externalise their distress, in order to decrease the numbers of children missed at these early stages.
• To make reasonable adjustments to the screening and assessment processes to ensure neurodivergent children can access the support they need.
• To consider the different assessment and intervention requirements for neurodivergent children and young people versus neurodivergent children and young people with additional learning needs.
• To ensure the effective operational management of the service in providing services which are in accordance with the objectives of the Neuro-developmental Pathway.
• To ensure services are developed and provided by the service that are of the highest standard in terms of fair access, equality of opportunity, and that uphold anti-discriminatory practice.
• To ensure practice within the pathway/team meets relevant standards, is appropriate, timely, safe, and follows agreed professional practice.
• To manage access and patient flow through the pathway to ensure an efficient and effective service delivery that supports service users and carers.
• To provide timely advice and direction to all pathway clinicians and CDT psychology team and others in relation to complex practice situations as necessary.
• To ensure the team supports a whole system approach and that liaison/consultation services develop to support services appropriately.
• To work in conjunction with Service Lead to develop quality assurance systems that support performance against KPIs.
• To establish and maintain effective working relationships and new working arrangements with colleagues, children and young people, parents, and other key stakeholders.
• To ensure staff engage in regular meetings, training, and team building with the goal of promoting a working environment that is open, honest, supportive, and outward looking.
• To ensure the appropriate and accurate use of the client information database (RiO).

People Management

• To inform the service lead regarding the effective use of human resources ensuring safe levels of staffing which reflect the necessary and appropriate skill mix.
• To support the service lead ensuring that all staff are in receipt of regular appraisal and professional development support.
• To support staff with training and participation in regular audit.
• To support staff to be pro-active in contributing to team and service training initiatives.
• Management of SLT working within Neurodiversity, support and guidance of service delivery.

Resource Management

• To support the service lead with ensuring that the team works effectively within the allocated financial framework.
• To identify any potential areas/events/situations that may have an adverse impact on financial expenditure for the service. This will include taking appropriate action to eliminate or minimise such adverse impact and informing the service lead at the earliest opportunity.
• Plan and co-ordinate your workload autonomously, ensuring all deadlines are met and objectives achieved, seeking advice from Service Lead when necessary.
• To assist or lead locally held training events, workshops, and manage projects as identified as service needs or by the or Service Lead.

Performance Management

• To provide and/or contribute to the production of reports, information, and proposals that support effective delivery of care and an integrated approach to work with colleagues at local level or through external agencies.
• To take responsibility, under the direction of the service lead, to achieve excellent performance for all relevant performance targets.
• To provide regular feedback on the progress/activity of the team to the service lead.
• To be responsible for the collection of KPI information wait times for assessment and ensure relevant data is sent to service lead in a timely manner.
• To investigate any concerns arising within the teams and propose resolution.
• To follow up on anomalies or concerns/complaints raised by patients/parents/carers and inform Service Lead of actions taken.
• To act within the Trusts Human Resources Procedures and take action as required, refer and liaise with Occupational Health as necessary.
• To support and provide supervision for expert by experience staff, as required.
• To support the induction of new permanent, bank, and agency admin staff to their work area, as requested by the Service Lead.
• To input into the recruitment process for available roles within the team.

Clinical

• To work with families and carers of neurodivergent children to ensure that they understand their child's abilities and the pathway available to support them.
• To ensure that families and carers are listened to and included in all decisions relating to their child's support whilst in the pathway.
• To ensure robust systems for transitions out of the pathway and into alternative services at the end of the period of care.
• To provide assessments for children and young people referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex data from a variety of sources (dependent on service requirements and staffing).
• To identify needs and refer children to the most appropriate treatment pathways within the service based on clinician and parent/carer agreed priorities.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, or group.
• To provide specialist expertise, advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to children and young people formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all children and young people of the service, across all settings and agencies serving children and young people with a range of needs, neuro-developmental differences, learning disabilities, and mental health problems/behaviours that challenge.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual children and young people and to provide advice to other professions on risk assessment and risk management.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of children and young people under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
• To contribute to a service-wide process of increasing awareness, acceptance, appreciation, and empowerment of neurodivergent children, which includes, but is not limited to, adaptation of appropriate terminology relating to neurodivergent populations, ensuring experts by experience are a core part of the service, inviting neurodivergent adults to share their experiences with the team, and keeping actively involved with the changes and recommendations for supporting neurodivergent children and young people.

Self-Management

• To ensure that as a member of staff you are fully aware of current developments, legislation, and practice in the care of children and young people with additional needs.
• To attend regular management/professional supervision. Through supervision and appraisal, acknowledge own limitations and discuss/identify/access training as appropriate. Be aware of and reflect on own practice as a lead/clinician.
• To be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies, acting as a role model to other staff. Manage time effectively. Continue to meet professional standards of practice and relevant professional legislation.
• To undertake other duties as required by the service lead.
• This job description will be reviewed as and when necessary, in conjunction with the post holder.

Person Specification

Education

Essential

• L3 Safeguarding Children Training
• Post-graduate training in an area of neurodivergence such as autism.
• Registered with the HCPC.
• Specialised training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of pre-school children with neuro-developmental differences.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised therapies which are known to support neurodivergent children.

Desirable

• Additional training in specialised areas of Neurodivergence, Positive Behaviour Support, Trauma Informed Practice
• Specialist training and experience in autism assessment measures, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)
• Extensive use and knowledge of RIO