ARFID Pathway Lead | East London NHS Foundation Trust

ARFID Pathway Lead | East London NHS Foundation Trust

The post holder will provide senior clinical leadership of the ARFID Pathway, working closely with the General Manager and the wider CEDS-CYP leadership team to lead the day-to-day clinical operation of the pathway.

This is a highly specialist, multi-professional leadership post: the role is open to applicants from a Nursing (Mental Health or Paediatric/Child) or Occupational Therapy background who can evidence highly specialist experience of ARFID, feeding and eating disorders, and neurodevelopmental/sensory presentations in children and young people.

The post holder will provide highly specialist assessment, formulation, triage and consultation for children, young people and their families presenting with ARFID or suspected ARFID, including those with complex, heterogeneous presentations such as learning disability, global development delay, sensory sensitivities, neurodevelopmental conditions and physical health comorbidities, in line with the pathway's inclusion and exclusion criteria.

• To provide highly specialist clinical leadership of the ARFID Pathway within EL CEDS-CYP, working across Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, Psychology, Speech & Language Therapy, Psychiatry and Paediatrics.
• To provide highly specialist assessment, triage and formulation for children and young people aged 8–18 with ARFID or suspected ARFID, in line with the pathway's inclusion criteria (declining weight, nutritional deficiency, physical sequelae, MEED Red/Amber risk, ONS or NGT feeding) and exclusion criteria.
• To evaluate and monitor eating disorder-related clinical risk on an on-going basis, including physical and psychiatric risk, using the MEED risk framework, and to undertake or oversee basic physical health checks (e. g. height, weight) as part of risk assessment.
• To lead the MDT formulation process for children, young people and their families with complex ARFID presentations and comorbid neurodevelopmental, sensory or physical health needs, drawing on an appropriate conceptual framework and research-based evidence.
• To provide close liaison and, where appropriate, joint working with local CAMHS and paediatric services to ensure equitable access for children and young people with complex, neurodevelopmental or sensory presentations, supporting consultation rather than exclusion wherever appropriate.
• To be responsible for providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive, distressing and emotional information in relation to a child or young person's eating and physical health, where there are often barriers to acceptance or engagement.
• To spend sustained periods of time with children, young people and families who may present with high anxiety, distress or resistance around eating, and who may have additional communication needs; to manage exposure to highly emotional atmospheres and to recognise and defuse risk appropriately.
• To work in ways which are sensitive to the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural, sexual, religious and social backgrounds, and to develop innovative ways of meeting these needs, including working with interpreters where required.
• To be responsible for monitoring, recording and reporting on clinical work, and communicating highly complex clinical information to a variety of recipients (service users, families, carers and professionals) both orally and in writing

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve.

Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

• This advert closes on Sunday 30 Aug 2026
• #J-18808-Ljbffr