Neuro Development Pathway Team Leader

Job responsibilities

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust plan to integrate and form a new organisation on the 1st April 2026. As such, if your start date is on or after 1st April 2026, you will be employed by the newly formed organisation. Should you join Bridgewater prior to this date, your employment will automatically transfer into the new organisation. We are confident that this transition will provide new opportunities and a continued commitment to excellence in patient care.

The Team Leader will be responsible for the management and leadership of three teams within childrens specialist services including the Community Paediatric Service, the Neurodevelopmental Pathway (NDP) and the Neurodevelopmental Nursing Teams across the Borough of Warrington. The purpose of this role is to ensure effective, efficient, timely delivery of high-quality clinical services.

The post holder will be one of a number of Team Leaders in childrens services across Bridgewater, who report to the Operational Manager and will be based at the child development centre in Warrington.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Managerial/Leadership:

To support staff to deliver high quality services that focus on meeting quality outcomes for service users and that adhere to national and professional guidance.

Support the team to approach each case as an individual, to listen, understand and support the service user through their access to the service, involving them and their family as much as possible in all decisions about their care.

The role includes undertaking clinical work for a minimum 20% of their time undertaking highly complex clinical assessments and developing plans of care.

Ensure there is high quality supportive written information available to share with the child/young person and their families to help service users to understand the clinical decisions made, and their role in managing their own and/or their childs care.

Understand and manage the clinical risks and needs of the varied client groups who access the service.

To understand and deliver to the commissioning priorities in the localities covered by your teams services.

Plan the delivery of inclusive services, removing any barriers to equal outcomes for all our service users.

Oversee the management of the service area, ensuring appropriate referral pathways across teams are cohesive and interface to ensure smooth transition of clients between teams.

Ensure there is a mechanism for Clinical Supervision within the team to provide support to the team and to ensure maintenance of consistent clinical decision making and practice.

Ensure expectations of the service are managed by staff and understood by our service users.

To build a customer focused team to actively collect and analyse service user feedback and use it to improve service quality.

To support staff to appropriately advocate for children and families, sharing their experiences to inform service improvement.

To build relationships with other Bridgewater Team Leaders / services and partner providers across local Childrens Services network, including local parent/carer groups

Identify ways of communicating effectively on difficult, complex, and sensitive issues, supporting others to communicate, and updating and maintaining records and reports.

Support staff to manage their workload and to achieve a work life balance which is consistent with maintaining good physical and mental health in the workplace, with reference to Trust policies.

Support staff where health issues or life events impact on their ability to work, in line with Bridgewater Human Resources policies.

To support and cover for other team leaders ensuring there is a continuity of support for staff and service users at all times.

Devise and update a workforce plan to ensure correct posts and staffing for service delivery in the specified clinical area/s, working with the Operational Manager to match capacity with demand.

To ensure all aspects of organisational policies are implemented including recruitment policy and process, induction of new staff into the service, clinical supervision, personal development processes and exit interviews.

Manage the budget relating to the team in conjunction with Operational Manager

Follow procedure for managing risks and incidents and action, accordingly, sharing lessons learned.

Manage capacity and workload for the team, allocating workload equitably.

Effectively implement the attendance management policy

To contribute to performance management by collection and evaluation of data and quality analysis for the team.

To be accountable for timely reporting for areas including client data, annual leave, expenses, study leave

To monitor and report to Operational Manager any general HR issues discussing and taking action as appropriate.

Manage complaints and incidents within the service, implementing action plans as required.

Manage performance issues with staff such as capability, poor performance, grievances, discipline and sickness absence, ensuring proactive approaches in line with organisational policy and with support of Operational Manager

Respond to additional requests for information in your area of responsibility eg Freedom of Information requests, CQC reporting.

Maintain and implement business continuity plans as required.

Ensure effective use of physical and financial resources including the ordering of supplies and equipment.

To ensure, as far as possible, that the working environment is safe, and staff adhere to lone working policy.

To provide leadership and support by promoting professional development and encouraging clinical supervision

Contribute to the development of organisational policy and practice.

Understand the service delivery issues for the professional groups within the team.

Keep abreast of the changing NHS and local borough contexts.

Link with Team Leads, Specialists and staff from other Bridgewater Boroughs to align practice where possible.

Share quality improvement ideas from your team, linking in with other Team Leads, Clinical Lead and Operational Manager.

Contribute to the development of bids for tenders relevant to the service, collating and sharing relevant information and evidence from the team. Work with the bid team to develop service models for which the benefits and supporting evidence are clear.

Encourage areas for improvement in clinical practice based on evidence or clinical guidelines, taking into context the available resource.

In collaboration with clinical specialists take a lead role in the evaluation of clinical practice to identify and implement change to continuously improve the standards of clinical care

To work in partnership with other agencies to develop integrated strategies and enable integrated service delivery.

Maintain your own knowledge about developments within your professional group, linking in with professional peers across the organisation and taking advantage of regional and national events, programmes, training courses.

Represent the organisation where representation is needed along with Operational Manager

Ensure you and all staff maintain competence and fitness to practice, are registered with appropriate governing bodies and take action where standards are not met, or registrations not maintained.

Ensure student placements are provided and assessed according to regional agreements and requirements.

To access peer support opportunities with other team leads for joint problem solving.

To support improvement by means of PPD, audit activity and peer review.

Maintain an understanding of the skills and competencies within the group and maintain a Training Needs Analysis for the team.

Monitor and report compliance with statutory and mandatory training for the team.

Adhere to the PPD policy guidelines and timeframes for yourself and others.

To ensure the team develop strong partnerships with the other providers of health, education, and social care and/or external organisations, developing integrated working arrangements which maximise the achievement of the agreed outcomes for the child, young person, and family.

To act within your competence and limits of authority. This involves developing effective relationships and communication channels with the leadership team, escalating any concerns quickly for support and resolution.

To allocate and monitor the progress and quality of work in your area of responsibility.

Job Specific Requirements

Essential

• The ability to travel independently across the Trust.
• Ability to work flexibly across the Bridgewater footprint

Sponsorship

Essential

• Do you have the right to stay and work in the UK without sponsorship (share-codes will be checked if applicable).

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• In depth knowledge of professional provision to children and young people.
• In depth knowledge of relevant procedures including safeguarding children, SEN procedures and other legal frameworks.
• Leadership skills
• Ability to achieve objectives in an inclusive and collaborative manner.
• Governance and risk management skills
• Strong oral and written presentation skills.
• Ability to think strategically and problem solve.
• Negotiation skills.
• Basis IT skills to utilise Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable

• Workforce planning skills

Relationships

Essential

• If you are related to a director or have a relationship with a director or employee of an appointing organisation, please state the relationship.

Qualifications

Essential

• Recognised Health Professional qualification, either a Registered Nurse or a Speech and Language therapist
• Registered member of relevant professional body
• Successful completion of postgraduate specialist clinical short courses up to Masters degree equivalent.
• Advanced theoretical knowledge and practical experience of delivering clinical services at high level
• Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development.
• Evidence of successful completion of management short courses or training.

Desirable

• Management qualification.

Experience

Essential

• Significant professional post qualification clinical experience working with children and young people, with in this field and evidence of reflective practice and application of learning
• Experience of performance management
• Significant experience contributing to integrated, multi-professional and multi-agency child development processes and pathways.
• Experience of effectively engaging with children and families as service users.
• Experience of contributing to policy, planning and service redesign to improve quality and efficiency.
• Experience of actively participating in safeguarding children processes and advising clinical staff how to act on concerns regarding the welfare of a child

Desirable

• Experience in dealing with Human Resources issues such as recruitment and retention, performance management, sickness, annual leave.
• Experience of working with children and young people with learning, developmental, and/or neurodiverse conditions/disabilities.

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.

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).

UK Registration

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