The National Institute For Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is hoping to recruit care experienced individuals to join its Looked-after children and young people Committee.
NICE, which publishes guidelines for health technologies, clinical practice, public sector health workers and social care services, is looking for people aged 16 years and up who have personal experience of using health or care services. The committee has been set up to revise NICE’s guidance on looked-after children and young people, which was last updated in 2015.
There are four positions open for what NICE calls lay members of the committee:
- 2 care leavers aged between 18-25
- 1 foster carer
- 1 young person aged between 16-18 with experience of care
NICE’s website explains that it is looking for people with an understanding of looked-after children and young people and the issues which are important to them. This experience can be gained through personal experience of receiving care, personal experience of leaving care, or as a foster carer within the last 2 years.
The role will involve attending committee meetings, taking part in discussions to shape the guidance, reading committee papers, commenting on documents between meetings and keeping the committee’s work confidential.
Selected members will be required to ensure that the views, experiences and interests of children and young people who use social care services are taken into account by the committee, identify areas of concern for children and young people using social care services and review topic information and draft guidance from a children and young person’s perspective.
Travel expenses are offered at a maximum of £20 per day, with attendance payments set at £150 per full-day meeting (four hours or longer) and £75 per half-day meeting (shorter than four hours). If you are applying for this position, please confirm payment with the team beforehand.
The page featuring the current guidance on looked-after children and young people includes:
Full details including application forms, role description and information about the committee and the position can be found here.