Children and Young Placements Lead

Main area Children and Young People Grade NHS AfC:
Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Office Hours Mon to Fri) Job  
-TS

Employer NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board Employer type NHS Site Gail House Town Maidstone Salary £57,528 - £64,750 pro rata per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 22/10/2026 23:59

The post holder will work within a Specialist Assessments and Placement’s Team to provide expert clinical leadership in the assessment, review and authorisation of specialist placements for children and young people with complex mental health, learning disability and autism needs.
Working across health, education and social care, the post holder will ensure that placement decisions are clinically appropriate, evidence based, person-centred and deliver value for money whilst improving outcomes for children and young people.
The role will support the Integrated Care Board in delivering statutory responsibilities relating to NHS Continuing Care, specialised commissioning, SEND, safeguarding, Transforming Care and national policy objectives aimed at reducing inappropriate inpatient admissions and out-of-area placements.

• Assess clinical needs and complexity through review of reports, documentation and supporting data and determine whether community-based alternatives to proposed placements have been fully explored e.g. support available from commissioned NHS community services/CYPMHS
• Provide expert clinical recommendations regarding the most appropriate placement and package of care.
• Ensure all recommendations are evidence based and consistent with national guidance.
• Provide expert advice to multidisciplinary teams/practitioners on ICB processes, funding criteria and evidence based commissioning
• Support the development of knowledge and skills, as a subject matter expert, in CYP legislation, policy and guidance and the presentation of clinical needs in the children’s population within the placement’s team.
• Support procurement of specialist services where appropriate.
• Contribute to contract monitoring and provider quality assurance.
• Provide professional clinical leadership regarding;
  Children's Mental Health, Learning Disability, Autism, Positive Behaviour Support, Trauma-informed care, Risk management.
• Support resolution of complex interagency disagreements.
• Work within local safeguarding procedures.

We are committed to a culture that supports all staff at NHS Kent and Medway to be the best version of themselves.

Our ability to improve outcomes for our population depends on how effectively clinical, operational, financial and strategic professionals work together to make informed commissioning decisions. That’s why our workforce works a minimum of two days-a-week on-site, with the expectation that all one-to-ones are held face-to-face and that colleagues will regularly visit the services we are commissioning to understand more about them.

We believe regular on-site working supports stronger collaboration, faster problem-solving, peer learning, visible leadership and the integration of colleagues into our organisation. We also know that culture is built through shared experiences and day-to-day interactions.

We are a flexible working friendly organisation; we aim to support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit you and us.

We work with staff to agree objectives through regular supervision, annual appraisal and access to training opportunities.

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity. In order to reflect the diversity of our population, we positively encourage applications from all areas of the community regardless of gender, race,…