Clinical Specialist Doctor in Community Child Health

Job summary

Clinical Specialist Doctor in Community Child Health interest in Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics and Children in Care.

We are in the exciting position of being able to offer a clinical specialist post in the community and developmental paediatric service to an enthusiastic applicant with interests in neurodevelopmental paediatrics and the assessment of Children in Care. The post is for up to 10 Programmed Activities (10 PAs).

Clinical responsibility would be in a defined geographical patch within the Darlington and South Durham team who have bases at Darlington Memorial Hospital and Bishop Auckland General Hospital. However all staff are expected to work across Trust sites depending on the needs of the service.

The duties of these posts do not include any acute paediatric on call work.

Main duties of the job

The Community and Developmental Paediatrics Service provides consultant-led medical and health assessments, investigation, treatment, management and support for children and young people between the ages of 0-19 years in secondary care outpatient settings.

We work with children and young people with complex health needs resulting from neurological disorders affecting child development (neuro-disability), those with disordered child development or where there are concerns about developmental disorders, Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) and children and young people who are in care.

We are a dedicated team of highly specialised clinicians trained in paediatrics who have sub-specialised in community child health. We deliver holistic care as part of a multidisciplinary team with close links to primary care teams, 0-25 service, mental health providers, tertiary paediatrics and other hospital based paediatricians and agencies such as education, social care, public health and voluntary sector organisations.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Please note that we may close any vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications have been received.

Details

• Date posted: 21 October 2026
• Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff
• Salary: £104,401 to £115,341 a year MC70 Payscale per annum pro rata
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: C9439-2526-161
• Job locations: Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust, Hollyhurst Road, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 6HX, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be expected to:

Work with a dedicated team of community and developmental paediatric consultants to deliver holistic and multi-disciplinary care to children with developmental disorders and complex health needs in the locality.

Support services for Children in Care, undertaking Initial Health assessments, as required along with Community Paediatricians and GPs with a special interest in Children in Care.

Liaise with colleagues in Primary Care, Education (including the provision of health advice for the Special Education Needs and Disability assessment process) and Social Care in the delivery of care.

Participate in peer review, contribute to service development, departmental clinical governance and annual appraisals towards revalidation with the GMC.

Share the ethos of our team in delivering high quality care to children and young people and where indicated liaise with a range of professionals dependent on the needs of the child or young person. This may include specialist nurses for children in care, specialist paediatric nurses, paediatric therapists, child psychologists, Education and Social Care.

This post will have the following job components:

Regular outpatient clinics for the statutory Initial Health Assessments of Children in Care.

Outpatient clinics for children referred for neuro-developmental concerns.

Allotted time for admin, matched to outpatient clinics, in line with standards outlined by Coram BAAF and the British Association of Community Child Health.

Time to attend departmental governance and opportunity for continuing professional development appropriate to the role.

Appraisal and Revalidation: Time to participate in personal objective setting and review, including the creation of a personal development plan and the Trusts appraisal process.

Services offered include adoption and fostering, Children in Care, historic child sexual abuse assessment, assessment and management of children with neurodevelopmental difficulties and neurodisabilities (including Autism Spectrum Disorders, epilepsy) and children with Special Educational Needs. Safeguarding duties are undertaken in accordance with local procedures and Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) for children on caseload.

Our service works closely with a well-established and dedicated team of Specialist Community Nurses for children, Childrens therapy team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, Looked After Nurses, Safeguarding Team and Clinical Psychologists. There is good liaison with Primary Care, the 0-25 service (Health Visiting and School Nursing Teams) across County Durham and Darlington, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and partner agencies (Education, Childrens Social Care).

The team has close links and shared care with tertiary neurology services from the Great North Childrens Hospital in Newcastle and with the regional Northern Genetics Service supporting the provision of outreach clinics. We are fully integrated with the acute paediatric team into a department of Child Health.

We offer postgraduate training within the clinical environment, supporting paediatric trainees, including training at Level 3 for Community Child Health. We also provide opportunities for undergraduate trainees as part of the new curriculum and allied health professionals.

The service hosts the Designated Paediatricians for the Child Death Review process, Children in Care and Safeguarding Children.

The wider Child Health team includes general paediatric consultants with sub-speciality interests, who deliver daytime out-patient care and in-patient care to the paediatrics ward and special care baby unit at the University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).