Job overview

The Autism Assessment Service are looking to recruit a full-time Band 6 LD Nurse to support the team.

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust aims to provide accessible, non-stigmatising local services that contribute to the assessment of needs and diagnostic outcomes for children and young people and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Autism Assessment service conducts assessments for children, young people and adults, with post-diagnostic support being offered to those up to the age of 25 with an Education Health and Care Plan.  

The successful postholder will:

·       Be a member of the Autism Assessment Service, demonstrating the ability to make decisions and influence the development of services.

·       Provide evidence-based specialist nursing advice and support and to children and young people with a diagnosis of autism, their parents and carers.

·        Ensure health professionals gain knowledge and skills in being able to provide healthcare that is responsive to their individual needs.

·       Participate in the development of an evolving Autism service.

·       Will be required to teach staff including both students and registered and unregistered team members.

Main duties of the job

To assess children, young people and adults referred to the Autism Assessment Service using a variety of evidence-based specialist assessment tools, leading to a diagnostic conclusion in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team. 

To provide post-diagnostic support to children, young people and adults including the development, implementation, and evaluation of the support, and in full collaboration with the children, young people, adults and their parents/carers.

To promote and develop evidence-based practice.

Provide advice to other professionals on complex and/or sensitive care needs

To liaise with and offer advice/ information to other members of the multi-disciplinary team, other professionals, clients and their families/carers to facilitate safe and effective assessment and support.

To motivate others through effective communication and be able to gain co-operation for treatment where there may be significant barriers to understanding.

Working for our organisation

As a Trust we remain bold and ambitious with plans for both service and system collaborative transformation over the coming years to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people through high quality care.

We pride ourselves on ensuring our team has their wellbeing put first and as such provide a range of wellness opportunities including flexible working. 

We are committed to the Greener NHS national ambition to becoming the world’s first ‘carbon net zero’ national health system by 2045 (Greener NHS (england.nhs.uk). As part of this, sustainability is embedded in our strategy as one of our four key enablers. In order to deliver on this commitment, we recognise that we need a workforce that is as passionate as we are about achieving these goals, for the benefit of our service users, workforce, local communities and the planet alike.  For 2024/2025, we have launched our “Proud to be Green” engagement campaign which is aligned to the targets set out in our Green Plan.  As a Trust, you can be assured that we will commit to supporting you in working towards our net zero ambitions, set out in our Green Plan, through our sustainability programme”. 

 The Trust is committed to ensuring that a diverse workforce is representative and inclusive at all levels. We would very much welcome applications from all under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds, and those from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities.