Paediatric AudiologistNHS

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and enthusiastic Paediatric Audiologist / Paediatric Clinical Scientist (Audiology) to join our Children's Audiology Service within Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

Based in Crawley, you will provide high-quality, family-centred audiological assessment and management for infants, children and young people up to the age of 18 years. Working within a friendly and supportive multidisciplinary team, you will play a key role in delivering diagnostic hearing assessments, supporting rehabilitation pathways, and contributing to service development.

You will work closely with senior paediatric audiologists, clinical scientists, audiology assistants and child development colleagues, as well as external partners including ENT services, sensory support teams, paediatricians, speech and language therapists, health visitors, school nurses and social care professionals.

This role offers excellent opportunities for professional development and may include additional responsibilities in areas such as hearing therapy, school screening training, digital communications and service development, depending on experience and service need.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will:

• Deliver a wide range of age-appropriate paediatric hearing assessments for children and young people up to 18 years of age.
• Interpret assessment findings, communicate outcomes to families and develop appropriate management plans.
• Support paediatric hearing rehabilitation services, including hearing aid fitting, verification, validation and follow-up care.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and external agencies to ensure coordinated, child-centred care.
• Provide sensitive and effective communication to children, parents, carers and professionals, adapting approaches to overcome communication barriers where required.
• Participate in service development, clinical audit, quality improvement initiatives and pathway development.
• Maintain accurate clinical records and activity data in line with professional and Trust standards.
• Contribute to the supervision, training and support of junior staff, students and colleagues.
• Participate in continuing professional development, appraisal processes and clinical supervision activities.
• Support the maintenance and calibration of audiological equipment and ensure safe use of clinical resources.

Job description

As a Band 6 Paediatric Audiologist/Paediatric Clinical Scientist, you will be responsible for delivering specialist paediatric audiology services as part of a multidisciplinary Child Development team.

Key responsibilities include:

Clinical Assessment and Management

• Undertake comprehensive paediatric hearing assessments using a range of behavioural and objective techniques, including:
• Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA)
• Play Audiometry
• Pure Tone Audiometry
• Speech Discrimination Testing
• Masking Techniques
• Acoustic Admittance Measurements
• Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs)
• Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) testing where appropriate
• Analyse and interpret complex assessment findings to support diagnosis and management planning.
• Communicate assessment outcomes sensitively and effectively to children, parents and carers.
• Work with families to provide advice, support and ongoing management for childhood hearing loss.

Hearing Rehabilitation

• Support hearing aid assessment, fitting and follow-up services.
• Undertake hearing aid verification and validation procedures, including Real Ear Measurements (REMs) and measured RECDs.
• Carry out hearing aid maintenance, troubleshooting and repairs.
• Take aural impressions and fit ear moulds for infants and children.
• Provide advice regarding assistive listening devices and communication support.

Multidisciplinary Working

• Work collaboratively with paediatricians, ENT services, speech and language therapists, sensory support services, school nurses, health visitors, GPs and social care teams.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary meetings and coordinated care planning.
• Ensure timely referrals and effective communication with partner organisations.

Leadership, Training and Service Development

• Support and supervise junior audiology staff and assistants as appropriate.
• Contribute to staff induction, teaching and training activities.
• Participate in clinical audit, service evaluation and quality improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of clinical protocols, pathways and service objectives.
• Support the development of patient information resources, online content and service communications where required.

Professional Responsibilities

• Maintain professional registration and practice within relevant professional and legal frameworks.
• Participate fully in appraisal, clinical supervision and continuing professional development.
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous electronic patient records using SystmOne.
• Ensure compliance with safeguarding, infection prevention, data protection and health and safety policies.
• Contribute to the delivery of safe, effective and patient-centred services in line with Trust values and national standards.

Additional Development Opportunities Depending on experience and service requirements, the post holder may also have opportunities to:

• Deliver hearing therapy services.
• Lead training and support for school hearing screening programmes.
• Support development of the Children's Audiology website and social media presence.
• Participate in wider service development projects across Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

For further details, please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?o Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staffo Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.