Designated Clinical Officer Special Educational Need

Haringey GP Federation; West Green; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Part time

Job summary

A healthcare provider is seeking an experienced Designated Clinical Officer for Special Educational Needs to serve as a key contact for local authorities in West Sussex. This role requires strong leadership along with a solid understanding of SEND regulations and the ability to manage clinical governance. The position is part time, with a competitive salary of £55,690 to £62,682 per annum pro rata. The role's objective is to ensure timely and high-quality health provision for children with special educational needs in collaboration with various stakeholders.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Excellent training opportunities

Accredited Living Wage Employer

Cost-effective workplace nurseries

Active inclusion networks

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse or Allied Health Professional with extensive experience working with children.
• Experience of working with children and/or young people with disabilities or learning needs.
• Evidence of leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the clinical and operational delivery of SEND services.
• Facilitate collaborative approaches in the SEND reforms.
• Ensure health compliance with SEND statutory responsibilities.

Skills

Leadership skills

Excellent communication skills

Ability to manage clinical governance

Education

Master's degree or equivalent experience

Registered Nurse or Registered AHP

Job description

Designated Clinical Officer- Special Educational Need

We are looking for an experienced children’s health professional for the role of Designated Clinical Officer Special Educational Needs (DCO) - West Sussex. As DCO you will be a key point of contact for the local authority, education setting, health providers and families, ensuring that health provision in EHCPs is timely, high quality and child centred. You will be a registered clinical professional in Nursing or as an Allied Health Professional. You will have extensive experience of working in partnership with colleagues invigorated with colleagues in education, specifically related to SEND. You will have a strong understanding of the SEND Code of Practice and relevant legislation. You have excellent communication skills with the ability to work across organisational boundaries. You have leadership skills with the confidence to challenge, advocate and innovate.

This is a part time fixed term post forქვამ one year. The banding 8a is indicative and will be confirmed following completion of the job matching process.

The role will be based at a location within West Sussex, with options discussed with the successful candidate.

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will bring a high level of expertise from either a therapy, (OT, PT or SLT) or children’s nursing background to provide advice, education and support to the local SEND system.
• The role of the DCO will be crucial in helping to facilitate the collaborative approach required in the SEND reforms and define the role of the Integrated Care/m board (ICB) in the delivery of the services to children and young people with SEN and Disabilities and help develop a clear implementation plan.
• The post holder will work with the Clinical Heads of Service, local health service leads and West Sussex Local Authority to ensure health’s compliance with the delivery of the special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms and so support the service to meet statutory responsibilities for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 in West Sussex.
• Identify and engage with key stakeholders in the SEN and Disability system.
• Support workforce development and awareness of the SEN and Disability reforms, including the development of training for health teams.
• Oversee local Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and lead on quality control of this process and act as point of contact for enquiriesになる relation this, attending EHC panels.

About us

viäWe are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?

• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staff
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values

Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence – guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will lead on the clinical and operational delivery and management of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) for SCFT ensuring that children and young people of West Sussex experience the best possible quality of services, clinical outcomes, and patient experience when they interface with health and care providers.

The post holder will lead on SEND and contribute towards the SEND self‑assessment and inspection framework with Local Authority partners across West Sussex, including meeting and evidencing statutory and regulatory standards within the services being commissioned.

Lead the development and implementation of local and Pan‑Sussex SEND operational policies/procedures.

Communicate complex and sensitive information effectively and collaboratively with partner agencies and professionals in health, social services, education, and the voluntary sector to ensure the protection of vulnerable adults/children.

Work collaboratively with team leader colleagues to ensure SEND objectives and action plans are met.

Ensure the appropriate data is inputted to the appropriate standard by the team. Oversee and collect, collate, analyse, and take appropriate action to enable efficient service development and delivery e.g., audits.

Act as an exemplar for the SEND vision within Sussex.

Enable and empower staff to develop ideas for increased efficiencies, managing partnerships to be ambitious but realistic in achieving the best performance levels.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse or Registered AHP with extensive experience working with children.
• Master's degree or equivalent experience in specialist field.

Experience

• Experience of working with children and/or young people with a disability, developmental need or learning need.
• Evidence of leadership skills.

Skills

• Ability to manage clinical governance inc risks, incidents, complaints and standards.

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.

£55,690 to £62,682 a yearper annum pro rata