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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

·         To undertake consultant led clinics and to provide support to more junior medical staff. This includes integrated working with education and social services staff and the provision of paediatric advice as required.

·         In conjunction with colleagues to provide specialist paediatric assessment of children referred where there are concerns regarding neurodevelopmental problems or disability including those with social communication or developmental behaviour problems.

·         To provide clinical assessment, investigation and management of children referred to the service, working with other members of the team to determine the most appropriate method of assessment and intervention.

·         To be involved in peer review arrangements for children with complex needs.

·         To take Consultant medical responsibility for children attending special school.

·         To provide clinical support for all the clinicians providing Developmental Paediatric and Child Health Service including nursing and professional allied to medicine.

·         To be part of the multidisciplinary assessment and diagnosis process for children referred to the service, including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and other clinical conditions including occasional attendance at relevant pathway and operational group meetings.

·         To be involved in provision of advice and outcome focused information for those who require Education Health and Care Plans

·         To provide high quality caseload management including high quality case records, ensuring adherence to professional best practice

·         To deliver high quality service required to meet service needs.

Statutory Roles

A special interest and experience in looked after children assessments including Initial health assessments and Adoption medicals is desired but not required of a successful candidate. There is an opportunity to take on either the role of Designated Doctor for Looked After Children, or Medical Advisor for Adoption and Fostering within the 10 PA consultant role.

Professional Responsibilities 

·           To carry out responsibilities as a consultant for children with neurodevelopmental difficulties and to work in close co-operation with local authority staff and other clinical colleagues.

·           To promote close collaboration between Developmental paediatrics, hospital paediatric services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

·           To work in partnership with Education, Social Services and LAC colleagues to ensure child health needs are effectively met.

·           To occasionally attend multidisciplinary support pathways / panels for children with significant needs in order to provide a joined-up approach.

·           To work alongside the Designated Clinical Officer and to be available as Paediatrician for Education where there is a lack of agreement between families and health providers on the content of an Education, Health and Care Plan.  To review, along with other clinical staff, the health provision set out in the draft Education, Health, and Care Plan  

·           To work alongside the clinical director for Developmental Paediatrics identifying any training needs for the service in children coming in care.

·           In the event of the need for formal dispute resolution alert the Trust, ICB and the relevant chief officers for service providers

Safeguarding Responsibilities

The trust Safeguarding lead for Children is Dr Maysara Aziz. The Consultant in Developmental Pediatrics will be expected to work with the trust lead for safeguarding children as and when needed.

The Consultant Paediatrician of the Week or on call has overall responsibility for ensuring patients

are safeguarded at all times in accordance with the Children’s Acts of 1989 and 2004. Each quarter,

approximately 280 safeguarding concerns / cases are raised by either Emergency Department staff, Paediatric and Neonatal staff which the Consultant is expected to be involved and lead on as required to ensure the child’s safety and health is paramount at all times.

All Consultants should be trained to Safeguarding Level 3, renewable every 3 years.

The Named Doctor is to attend Level 4 training.

To be competent at safeguarding children and implementing the Child in Need (Family Action procedures in St Helens Local Authority) and Child Protection procedures as appropriate and includes the following skills, competencies and knowledge:

1.      Be able to recognise child abuse.

2.      Be able to document accurately child protection concerns according to Laming recommendations, differentiating fact from opinion

3.      Know who to contact / inform / seek advice from; know how to contact them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, know when to contact them according to Trust and Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards policies and procedures, including the Sudden Infant and Child Death regional procedures.

4.      Understand the next steps in the child protection process

5.      Know when and how to act, when and how to refer and the importance of following up a referral.

6.      Understand which groups of children are at risk of harm or neglect.

7.      Know how to share information – in writing, by telephone, electronically or in person

8.      Know who to share information with and when, understanding the difference between information sharing on individual, organisational and professional levels.

9.      Know what to record, how long to keep it, how to dispose of records correctly, and when to feedback or follow up.

10.   Have understanding of own (and others’) professional roles and boundaries, including the Named professionals, Trust managers and social workers.

11.   Knowledge of the implications of key national document/reports.

12.   Understand the assessment of risk and harm.

13.   Understand multi-agency frameworks, investigations, working and child protection assessment processes including the use of the Common Assessment Framework / investigation/working.

14.   Be able to present child protection concerns in a child protection conference or to produce a timely report of concerns if unable to attend the meeting.

15.   Demonstrate ability to work with families where there are child protection concerns.

16.   Understand forensic procedures/practice.

17.   Be able to advise other agencies regarding the health management of child protection concerns.

18.   Ability to contribute to serious case reviews or individual management reviews.

19.   Understand child protection investigation and the basics of forensic procedures.

20.   Aware of Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and its remit.

21.   Know how to access the child index register.

22.   Aware of resources that may be available within health and other agencies.

Audit, Education and Research

All medical staff are expected to undertake Continuing Medical Education (CME) to maintain standards.

The post holder must participate in annual job planning with the Clinical Director and Directorate Manager.

All consultant and non-training grade doctors in the Trust must have an annual appraisal. The Trust has developed a standardised, strengthened medical appraisal process to ensure it meets the required standards of Medical Revalidation and supports doctors in their revalidation. The post holder will be assigned an appraiser and an appraisal anniversary month by the Medical Revalidation Team.  Appraisals must take place by the last date of the anniversary month each year.  Permanent members of staff will have their appraisal on the Trust e-portfolio system (‘PReP’).

Audit and Education

Both the Paediatric Department and the Trust have a clearly defined programme of medical audit to which the appointee will be expected to contribute.  All specialties spend one half day per month on audit and clinical governance.  As well as Paediatric Audit sessions the Department participates in quarterly Perinatal Audit and an annual joint audit with the Northwest Transport Service (NWTS), Anaesthetics, Emergency Department and Surgical Care.

The post holder will be expected to act as clinical/educational supervisor for one or more trainees.

There are weekly Departmental Grand Rounds on Friday morning and a Hospital Grand Round on Tuesday lunchtime.  The post holder will be expected to contribute towards both Grand Rounds on a rota basis. There are regular weekly grand rounds/ seminars/lectures at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital as well.

Teaching and Research

The Trust is one of the three major providers of clinical training for undergraduate medical students from The University of Liverpool.  A proportion of Liverpool medical students are attached to the Department for 4 weeks of their Paediatric training and also spend some of their time with local General Practitioners.

The Department undertakes local induction for all new junior medical staff plus 1 hour protected teaching sessions every week between 9.30 and 10.30 am on a Wednesday for junior medical staff.  These sessions echo the RCPCH and RCGP curriculums and are facilitated by the Paediatrician of the Week.    

There are strong links with Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, Alder Hey, both for courses and junior medical staff and research projects.

Occasional seminars and discussion meetings are held with local GPs. 

The Children’s Commissioning Team offer a programme of virtual webinars focussing on topics and services relating to paediatrics, prepared, and presented by members of our Consultant Team.