Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Children's Speech and Language Therapy

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Speech and Language Therapist to become Gloucestershire's Experts at Hand Advanced Practitioner, leading strategic transformation across education, health and care as part of the national SEND reform agenda.

This leadership role focuses on system-wide improvement, workforce development and service transformation to increase access to SLT expertise across settings and improve outcomes for 0-25s with SEND.

Qualifications

• HCPC-registeredSLT with experience in SEND settings.
• Experience across education, health and care partnerships.
• Passion for system leadership and workforce development.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic transformation across education, health and care services in Gloucestershire.
• Influence policy, workforce development and service improvement for SEND.
• Collaborate with NHS, Local Authority, ICS, universities and education sector.
• Provide CPD opportunities and supervise and develop the SLT workforce.

Skills

HCPC-registered SLT

SEND experience

Strategic leadership

Education

HCPC registration

Job description

Help Shape the Future of SEND in Gloucestershire

Do you want to influence change beyond your own service?

Are you passionate about creating inclusive education systems where children and young people with speech, language and communication needs receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place?

We are seeking an experienced and inspirational Speech and Language Therapist to become Gloucestershire's Experts at Hand Advanced Practitioner, leading strategic transformation across education, health and care services as part of the national SEND reform agenda.

This is a rare opportunity to step into a highly visible leadership role that will help shape how Speech and Language Therapy contributes to the future SEND system. Working across Gloucestershire's education, health and care partnerships, you will influence policy, workforce development and service improvement to increase access to Speech and Language Therapy expertise within education settings and improve outcomes for children and young people aged 0-25.

As Gloucestershire's Advanced Practitioner, you will:

• Play a key role in delivering local SEND priorities and national reform ambitions.
• Influence how Speech and Language Therapy is embedded within inclusive education systems.
• Support earlier identification and intervention for speech, language and communication needs.
• Build sustainable workforce solutions that strengthen support across education settings.
• Create opportunities for the next generation of Speech and Language Therapists through placements, apprenticeships and innovative supervision models.
• Work alongside senior leaders from the NHS, Local Authority, Integrated Care Board, universities and education sector to influence change at scale.

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys and regular Pulse surveys, provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Why This Role Matters

The national Experts at Hand programme is investing in Advanced Practitioner roles to support SEND reform by strengthening the Speech and Language Therapy workforce, increasing access to expertise in mainstream education and improving support for children and young people across local systems.

The post holder will be expected to work in line with the Trust values which are:

• Working together
• Always improving
• Respectful and kind
• Making a difference

There will be opportunities to work closely with the core children's Speech and Language Therapy Service including access to (and opportunity to provide) CPD and Clinical Supervision.

This is not a traditional clinical role. Please read the attached job description and person specification for more details.

Rather than holding a routine caseload, you will operate as a strategic, system-level clinical leader, using your expertise and influence to improve outcomes for children and young people across Gloucestershire. You will work across the four pillars of advanced practice to drive workforce development, service transformation, quality improvement and system leadership.

We are looking for someone who:

• Is an experienced HCPC-registered Speech and Language Therapist.
• Has significant experience working with children and young people with SEND.
• Understands the challenges and opportunities facing the SEND system.
• Has experience of partnership working across education, health and care.
• Can influence, inspire and build relationships across organisational boundaries.
• Is passionate about developing others and growing the Speech and Language Therapy workforce.
• Wants to make a lasting difference through system-wide leadership and transformation.

Join us and help transform opportunities for children and young people with SEND across Gloucestershire. Be part of the change, shape the future, and ensure Speech and Language Therapy expertise is truly available when it matters most.