Nurse Consultant/Allied Health Professional (Autism Service)
The closing date is 18 June 2026
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Great North Children's Hospital in a newly established Nurse Consultant /AHP Autism role. We are seeking a highly motivated, values-driven and experienced senior nurse or allied health professional to provide expert clinical leadership within our Autism and Special Educational Needs pathways.
The postholder will play a key leadership role in enhancing patient experience and outcomes, contributing to service transformation, and strengthening autism provision for children, young people and their families.
Main duties of the job
The post will operate across the four key domains of practice: clinical expertise, leadership, education, and service development.
Key responsibilities include:
- Deliver expert clinical assessment, decision-making, and first-line triage within autism pathways
- Provide clinical leadership across multidisciplinary teams, influencing practice and supporting workforce development
- Lead and contribute to service development, quality improvement and innovation in autism services
- Develop and deliver education and training programmes to enhance capability across teams
- Represent the service locally, regionally, and nationally through professional networks and partnerships
- Support Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and contribute to statutory processes where required
- Strengthen integrated working across hospital and community services, including local authority and voluntary sector partners
About us
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:
- Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
- Freeman Hospital
- Newcastle Dental Hospital
- Newcastle Fertility Centre
- Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
- Northern Genetics Service
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Job responsibilities
About the Service
- The role sits within Community Childrens Services at the Great North Childrens Hospital and will work closely with Community Paediatrics and wider multidisciplinary teams
- The service is undergoing significant development to meet increasing demand for autism assessments and improve pathways for children aged 04 years, alongside wider special educational needs provision
- You will contribute to delivering high-quality, family-centred care while supporting system-wide improvements across health, education and social care
What We Offer
- A unique opportunity to shape and lead the development of autism services
- Supportive, forward-thinking multidisciplinary teams
- Opportunities for professional development and strategic influence
- A role with real impact on patient care, experience, and system transformation
Person Specification
Qualifications & Education
- Registered Nurse, Midwife or AHP
- Current NMC/HCPC registration
- Possession of a Master's Degree or established on pathway and able to provide evidence of academic achievement at this level
- Evidence of specialist education related to area of clinical expertise
- Possession of or working towards a Doctorate
Knowledge & Experience
- Evidence of supervision and assessment in practice
- Knowledge and understanding of relevant NHS policy or project specific policy context
- Has understanding / experience of adult / child safeguarding
- Highly developed advanced specialist in field and applies theory to practice
- Has expert knowledge in practice, research, education, and leadership in specialist area and within the field of your profession
- Extensive experience of clinical work in specialist area
- Audit / research experience
- Extensive clinical and leadership experience in the specialist field
- Experience of contributing to the development of your profession at a regional / national level
- Experience / evidence of professional leadership in relation to their service at a regional and/or national level
Skills & Abilities
- Effective report writing skills
- Effective organisation and time management skills
- Ability to prioritise a complex workload and work in a rapidly changing environment
- Acts autonomously and independently within appropriate organisational boundaries and achieve results and outcomes based on own decision making
- Is able to assimilate risk / benefits and rationalise decision based on extensive knowledge, skills & experience
- Current driving licence if relevant to role
- Moving and handling patients and objects in line with Trust guidelines using appropriate aids
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.
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
