Autism Practitioner in Leeds

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At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), we strive to provide high-quality mental health and learning disability services as an employer of choice. We can only achieve this by putting our staff and the people using our services at the centre of everything we do. This starts with the people we employ. We recruit based on values and qualifications (where required) and believe lived experience is an advantage. We look for potential, not perfection, and this means that together, we are as diverse as the communities we care for.

Simply put, we seek out people who care, act with integrity and have the right skills. We want to add to our incredible colleagues, students and volunteers who share these principles, with people like you, who find empathy comes easily and who treat everyone with respect without thinking. Search our latest jobs to start your journey with us.

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service, for a Band 5 Autism Practitioner.
We are looking for a motivated clinician with enthusiasm and passion to join our innovative and highly regarded Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service. Experience of working with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning disabilities and mental health is not essential, however you will have knowledge of these conditions and their needs.

You will be joining an experienced MDT within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service, consisting of highly skilled, motivated clinicians who are passionate about delivering the best service possible to adults seeking assessments of ASD as well as delivering follow up and consultancy to those already diagnosed. The team brings with it clinical expertise in neurodiversity including adult ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and adult learning disability, as well as experience of community adult mental health, forensic and education services.

Main duties of the job

We will support the development of your ASD diagnostic assessment skills through access to robust internal & external training, continuing professional development, and clinical, managerial, and professional supervision. You will be trained in autism assessment tools including the ADOS-2. You will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, time management skills and you will need to be flexible in your therapeutic approach to work alongside individuals with different needs. We also link with regular CPD events, including fortnightly CPD sessions, team Away Days, attendance at relevant courses, national professional forums and conferences.

We work closely with universities supporting student placements, we also offer work experience to those in higher education.

Currently, there is an expectation that assessments will be delivered both virtually and face to face. A combination of home-based and office-based working is available; however, staff are required to undertake assessments across both settings as part of the role and work flexibly to meet service demand.

Working for our organisation

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.

There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.

We also have a bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that individuals requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust only provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles(this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• You will deliver specialist autism diagnostic assessment of adults within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service.
• You will facilitate follow up appointments for those who have been assessed by the service.
• You will work as an integrated member of the multidisciplinary team within the service and will contribute to all aspects of the diagnostic assessment pathway.
• You will be supported to complete relevant training to allow you to conduct high quality clinical and risk assessments
• You will provide recommendations relating to the management and support needs of service users identified as having autism spectrum disorder, and those service users with an additional diagnosis of ADHD and/or additional health conditions.
• You will contribute to the delivery of autism training alongside the team to a wide range of stakeholders in statutory services within our own Trust, those working in education, local authority, voluntary and private sectors.
• You will actively contribute to future service development, audit and quality improvement projects.

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for.

Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Relevant core professional qualification and registrations (eg. RMN, RN (Mental Health), RNLD (Learning Disability), OT, Social Worker, SaLT

Skills

• Ability to work in partnership with the MDT, other teams and services, Understanding the rationale and purpose of multi-agency working with people with complex needs.

Experience

• Experience working in a community setting

Knowledge

• Knowledge or understanding of good practice when working with those with autism and/or a learning disability with co-morbidities such as mental health difficulties

Values Based

• 1. Tell us about a time when you spotted something small going wrong and did something to stop it becoming a bigger issue.
• 2. Tell us about a time when you realised a colleague or someone you know needed a bit of support and you offered to help.
• 3. Tell us about a time when you showed someone kindness or understanding.

Applications are welcomed from candidates who wish to apply for a position based on a smarter (Hybrid) or flexible working arrangement. Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.

Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees – temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.

The purpose of a temporary is role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work. Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.

All new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response. LYPFT is committed to upholding its’ statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.

LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.

We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorize Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.

In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.

Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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