Deputy Designated Clinical Officer for SEND

We are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic and experienced clinical leader (qualified nurse or allied health professional) to become a Deputy Designated Clinical Officer for SEND (DCO) as part of our expanding team of DCOs in North West London ICB.

As a Deputy Designated Clinical Officer you will play a crucial role in supporting the Designated Clinical Officer for SEND in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham (North West London inner cluster).

Your role will be essential in the delivery of statutory duties for children and young people (CYP) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), improving healthcare services and working to improve the outcomes for our CYP with SEND., Your role as the Deputy Designated Clinical Officer will be instrumental in shaping the future of childrens health and well-being in the NWL Inner Cluster., Deputy DCO specific responsibilities

Support the Designated Clinical Officer in ensuring that the ICB meets their statutory duties for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 years

Manage highly complex arrangements and relationships between the NHS ICB and health service providers, Local Authority partners and parent / carer forums and work in partnership with the relevant programmes in the ICB to inform on gaps in provision and support service development.

Work with the DCO, strategically, to identify need and future need of children and young people with SEN and disabilities and their families to inform joint commissioning arrangements.

Lead on or participate in working development or steering groups to ensure effective change management to support health providers to implement person centred planning, improve service provision and outcomes for children with disabilities and SEND.

Be the health lead representative on the Education, Health and Care Panels (EHCP) for Bi-borough and Hammersmith & Fulham local Authority as part of the EHC process.

Co-ordinate and support to embed the development of robust pathways to enable health service providers meet their statutory duties, in contributing to the EHC process, including the legal requirements to respond to the National First Tier Tribunal, which may impact on other disciplines and maintain work related records.

Provide support, guidance and information to stakeholders, other partners and parent / carers on children and young peoples complex medical health needs and services available to meet those identified needs.

To co-ordinate and support health service providers in meeting their duty to ensure information is available and accessible to services users on local authority SEND Local Offers.

To work in partnership with the Local authorities in the co-production and ongoing review the Local Offer website.

Work collaboratively with partners and inform commissioners on the development of preparation for adulthood agenda and ensure good partnership working, coordination and development for transitions pathways for children and young people with disabilities, including those with an EHC, to access adult all health services.

Undertake a quality assurance role by conducting scheduled audits to monitor compliance with SEND statutory duties, reporting results and supporting the development and implementation of improvement action plans enabling assurance to the ICB.

Contribute towards the gathering of data to influence commissioning decisions and reviewing future trends.

Undertake the development and delivery of training on the SEND / EHCP process to health professionals and partners.

Support the DCO in ensuring adherence to appropriate governance in line with the policies of and including compliance with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission requirements.

Support the DCO in preparing for and coordinating arrangements for the local area SEND inspections.

Deputise for the DCO as required within your scope of practice

Core role responsibilities

Knowledge and expertise of project management and leadership, potentially including specialist expertise related to a specific domain

Presenting complex or contentious information to groups, including project boards and key stakeholder groups

Analytical and evaluation skills to support analysis and interpretation of complex facts, data and situations making clear recommendations on the basis of analysis and evidence

Attending and coordinating programme and team meetings, supporting forward agenda planning, coordinating contributions to papers, preparing papers and presentations, and ensuring that team meetings, programme boards and committees operate within organisational standards

Preparing presentations, programme planning, benefits management, Knowledge Management

Reporting on behalf of the programme

Working in an integrated manner with the local teams and establishing NW London-wide networks, developing and influencing formal and informal networks

Promote a culture that embraces equality and strives continuously to reduce inequality in both access and outcomes for all NW London residents

Finance and Physical Resources

Ensure compliance with Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions in the discharge of this responsibility.

Creation of Purchase Orders where required, and authorised for receipting invoices for payment.

Observes personal duty of care in relation to equipment and resources used in course of work.

Information Management

Responsible for the development of systems and frameworks to effectively monitor scheme delivery service provisions and to support future service developments

Human resources

Regularly responsible for professional / clinical supervision of a small number of qualified staff or students in regard to SEND.

Regularly responsible for providing training in regard to SEND for multi-agency partners.

Research and Development

Maintain awareness of good practice and development across the NHS, for example by participating in share and learn activities

Undertakes research, for example surveys, where appropriate within a programme of work

Freedom to Act

Lead specialist for specific, time-bound, projects including interpretation of national and local policies appropriate to that project

Policy and Service Development

Promote the adoption of best practice to support the delivery of the Service Transformation agenda in line with ICS thinking

Responsible for the interpretation and implementation of policies and guidelines

Reducing Inequalities

To ensure services are developed and provided in a way that provides equal access and care for all our residents

Promote approaches where residents views actively shape service and care provision

Use data and information to actively review and monitor the impact of services and decisions on our diverse population, taking action where necessary to ensure greater equality of impact

Ensure Equality Impact Assessments are proactively undertaken for all service developments

Promote a culture that embraces equality and strives continuously to reduce inequality in for all NW London residents and staff

1.Qualified and registered Allied Health Professional or Registered Nurse or Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (child family) or Registered General Practitioner with substantial experience in SEND

communication skills for parents, carers, and children of different ages

knowledge of the SEND agenda and ICB statutory duties for children and young people with SEND

4.Effective collaboration with diverse partners.

5.Strategic thinking to aligning project goals with organisational strategy.

6.Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

7.Identifying and mitigating strategic and operational risks.

self-development skills.

9.Proficiency in preparing progress reports and documentation., Effective communication, strategic thinking, and strong organisational skills will be essential in achieving the vision of improved health outcomes and reduced health inequalities for children and young people.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for an individual who possesses visionary leadership, a collaborative approach, and strong analytical thinking.

If you display resilience, empathy, and innovativeness to address health inequalities and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, we encourage you to apply.

Effective communication, a strategic mindset, and organisational savviness are vital for engaging stakeholders and aligning projects with broader NHS strategies.

If you are passionate about advocating for the needs of families and children, we encourage you to apply., Communication Skills

Essential

• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required


• Experience of creating and giving presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders


Planning Skills

Essential

• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long -term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly


• Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures


Analytical

Essential

• Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources.


• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making


• Numerate and able to understand complex financial issues combined with deep analytical skills


• Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures


• Knowledge of Financial Systems monitoring budget management, processing invoices and procurement


Equality and Diversity

Essential

The promotion of equality of opportunity and good working relations (providing practical leadership)

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment


• Evidence of continued professional development


• Demonstrated experience of coordinating projects in complex and challenging environments


• Experience of managing risks and reporting


• Babies, children, & young people


• Age-appropriate communication skills for parents, carers, and children of different ages


• Up-to-date knowledge of ICB statutory duties for children


Desirable

• Experience of drafting briefing papers and correspondence at SMT level


• Comprehensive knowledge of project principles, techniques and project management tools, such as Prince 2 Foundation and Microsoft Project


• Understanding of multi-agency accountability for commissioning childrens health pathways, Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales, Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area


• Post-graduate degree in Management Studies or equivalent


• Qualified and registered Allied Health Professional or Registered Nurse or Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (child family) or Registered General Practitioner with substantial experience in SEND
  
  NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (NHS NWL ICB) is a statutory body responsible for planning and allocating health and care resources to improve the lives of people in eight boroughs across North West London : Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.


The local population is large and diverse, with a wide range of health and care needs that are evolving all the time. Working with our partners including Councils, NHS provider Trusts, GPs and voluntary and community organisations we plan and allocate NHS resource to deliver a wide range of services including urgent and emergency care, mental health, primary care, elective hospital services and community care.

All ICB roles work collectively to ensure our residents and patients have access to the right services when they need them as well as focusing on prevention and health promotion, supporting residents to take greater care of their own health and live longer, healthier lives.