Job overview

Consultant Paediatrician & Medical Lead (Community Child Health and/or Paediatric Neurodisability) – 8 PA (0.8 whole time equivalent)

This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated individual to join our child development team based at the Chichester Child Development Centre, West Sussex.  The Centre provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary child development and disability services across the western part of West Sussex (including Arundel, Bognor Regis and Midhurst).

This post is suitable for either Community Paediatric or Neurodisability Paediatricians, the clinical role being largely focused on children with neurodisability/neurodevelopmental disorders. This is an 8 PA post (0.8 WTE), however in the future, there may be opportunities to increase to 10 PA (1.0 WTE). 

The team at Chichester is part of SCFT's wider Child Development Service, consisting of three other CDCs. There are opportunities for joint working and professional development and networking with over 15 consultant paediatric colleagues across the Trust.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will undertake assessment of children referred with concerns about neurodevelopment/neurodisability, including complex physical disability, social communication disorders, motor co-ordination difficulties, syndromes associated with developmental delay etc. There is a single point of access for all referrals to the child development service. Clinics are undertaken jointly with therapists and nurses when appropriate. There is close working with specialist educational support services and the Disability Social Care team. Referrals are accepted from a range of health professionals (e.g. hospital paediatricians, general practitioners, health visitors, school nurses, therapists, CAMHS) and other agencies (e.g. SENCos and other education and social work professionals). The assessments include diagnosis and investigation of children with more complex developmental needs or significant neurodisability and who need multidisciplinary management. Most clinical work is undertaken in the child development centre with some clinics held in special schools.

Please refer to the job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities.

Working for our organisation

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex. Our 6,000 staff serve a population of 1.3 million providing essential medical, nursing, and therapeutic care to adults and children.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community, helping people plan, manage, adapt to changes in their health, supporting avoidable hospital admissions and reducing hospital stay times.

We have opportunities for everyone across our wide variety of services including medical, clinical, support and corporate services.

Why work for us?

• Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, scoring highly in compassionate culture & leadership, and staff wellbeing support
• Variety of working environments across the community, in patients' homes, within our community hospitals and bases across the county
• Supportive flexible working patterns such as: part time, flexi time, annualised hours, and flexi retirement options
• Excellent training and development opportunities 
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove and Brighton
• EMBRACE, Disability and Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+ and Religion Spirituality and Belief staff networks
• Level 3 accredited Disability Confident Leader, committed to creating inclusive workplaces
• Veteran Aware Trust, achieving accreditation from Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA)
• Located in stunning Sussex, with easy access to the South Downs and the coast
• Access to a wide range of benefits and discounts for NHS staff