Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Transformationunitgm; Manchester; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Part time

Job summary

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is looking for a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join their Greater Manchester Specialist Support Team. This part-time role involves providing expert assessments and intervention, working within a multi-disciplinary team to enhance support for individuals with learning disabilities and autism.

Benefits

Flexible working requests considered

Training and development opportunities

Inclusive environment

Qualifications

• Evidence of successful completion of specialist short courses up to Master’s level or equivalent.
• Proven ability to work independently and manage a complex caseload.
• Experience of working with highly complex cases.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality consultation and specialist assessment of speech, language and communication needs.
• Support the development of the Speech and Language Therapy service.
• Supervise other speech and language therapists and support workers.

Skills

Excellent interpersonal skills

Highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills

Excellent analytical and reflection skills

Excellent presentation skills

Excellent organizational skills

Education

Completion of a recognised training course awarding relevant degree/diploma

Registered with the HPC – License to practice

Post graduate certificate in speciality

Membership of relevant special interest groups

Job description

Main area Learning disability Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours 22.5 hours per week (Job share to cover Monday, Tuesday and one other weekday) Job ref 350-SC7251196

Employer Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Floor 7, 2 City Approach, Town Manchester, Salary £46,148 - £52,809 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 16/06/2025 23:59

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Band 7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Job overview

An exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and experienced Speech and Language Therapist to join the Greater Manchester Specialist Support Team as a job share, up to 22.5 hours per week to cover Monday, Tuesday and one other weekday.

The Greater Manchester Specialist Support Team (GMSST) is a multi-disciplinary team providing a service across Greater Manchester to service users with a learning disability and/or autism who present with risk of hospital admission, placement breakdown or forensic risk.

You will be expected to work in all areas of Greater Manchester and liaise with the local Learning Disability, Mental Health and Autism services to develop proactive and preventative risk mitigation support, informed by specialist assessment. We also offer advice and consultation and training to external agencies.

Main duties of the job

To provide high quality consultation, specialist assessment and intervention of speech, language and communication needs. To support the development of the Speech and Language Therapy service and strive for continuous improvement. To take a lead on and provide evidence-based Speech and Language Therapy assessment, treatment and intervention to service users who have complex needs.

This role will be integrated in the therapy team and will work with the team to develop person centred care.

Supervision will be provided within the trust as applicable.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Line Management responsibility for team.

2. Full management responsibility for managing and prioritising caseload including delegation to other speech and language therapists in the team.

3. Supervise other speech and language therapists and support workers in the team.

4. Contribute to the pre and post qualification teaching of speech and language therapy.

5. To provide clinical leadership and training to the wider staff team with regards to speech, language and communication.

6. To provide strategic leadership to within the Service in the development of the things such as the clinical model.

7. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings where appropriate.

8. To provide in depth specialist speech and language therapy assessments for the more complex service users referred to the team.

9. To formulate and implement support plans as part of the MDT.

10. Evaluate the impact of a support plan / intervention and use outcome measures to inform future practice.

11. Develop effective outcome measures both for SLT and the wider team to build on the existing evidence base.

12. To provide clinical and strategic leadership across the health and social care network for the geographical area.

13. Represent service both nationally and locally as appropriate.

14. Research: To utilise theory evidence-based literature and research to support practice and to contribute to the evidence base by leading and participating research and audit.

15. Advising team manager about capacity / gaps in service delivery / operational issues.

16. Being involved in recruitment of other speech and language therapists or other staff within the teams.

17. To provide clinical and managerial supervision to junior members of staff.

18. To act as supervisor, assessor and mentor for students, Speech and Language Therapists and junior staff.

19. To facilitate the education of service users, relatives and other agencies concerned with provision of learning disability services in the community.

20. To be involved in the development of training / information resources for partner agencies

21. To ensure Safeguarding requirements are upheld.

22. To provide statistical information as required by the Trust.

23. To undertake duties as may be delegated by the Team Manager or the Clinical Lead.

24. To utilise theory, evidenced based literature and research to support practice.

25. To contribute to the evidence base by leading and participating in research and audits whenever possible.

26. Promote health and reduce inequalities for all patients accessing the speech and language therapy service, so that they may be able to maximise their potential in terms of health education and social well-being.

27. To lead on training and development programmes as appropriate to the knowledge and skills of the individual, delivering to other professionals and service users.

28. Participate in the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (MCFT) PACE review process ensuring business priority objectives are met and a personal development plan is maintained and evaluated. Cascade the PACE process to departmental staff as appropriate.

29. Be responsible for own continuing professional development and maintaining own professional registration and meet HPC registration requirements, maintain a professional portfolio and demonstrating evidence of reflective practice.

30. Use highly developed skills to convey complex and sensitive clinical information, using a high level of persuasive and motivational skill to enable others to follow swallowing/therapy plans. Communicate clinical formulations and interventions to service users and carers in an understandable manner based on a person-centred approach, which inspires hope to the service user and carer.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Completion of a recognised training course awarding relevant degree/diploma approved by the RCSLT and HPC
• Registered with the HPC – License to practice
• Evidence of successful completion of specialist short courses up to Master’s level or equivalent
• Experiential training which demonstrates highly specialist skills in specialist area
• Evidence of management training
• Evidence of leadership training
• Membership of relevant special interest groups
• Post graduate certificate in speciality
• Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)

Knowledge

• Relevant experience at undergraduate/post graduate level
• Experience of carrying out specialist assessments and interventions
• Proven ability to work independently, prioritise and manage own complex caseload.
• Experience of working with highly complex cases, such as progressive illness and rare conditions
• Evidence of experience of: Multi disciplinary team working
• Leading in service projects
• Developing and leading training of others and Language Therapists
• Advanced knowledge of assessment tools relevant to the client group
• In depth knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to the client group
• Advanced knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions relevant to the client group and an ability to compare and contrast relative benefits
• In depth knowledge of the principles of clinical governance/audit
• Understands the roles of other professionals relevant to the client group
• Understands the standards of record keeping
• Understands confidentiality as relating to the NHS
• Student training
• Experience of delivering/developing training to staff/carers
• Experience of using iPads and other forms of technology
• Experience of facilitating groups
• Experience of providing supervision to staff members
• Experience of being a Clinical Educator

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills – including, listening and empathy skills
• Highly developed negotiation and problemsolving skill
• Excellent analytical and reflection skills
• Excellent presentation skills written and verbal
• Excellent organizational skills
• Prioritisation and time management skills
• Good Auditory discrimination skills and ability to transcribe phonetically
• Able to be a good team member and assume leadership responsibilities
• Able to work independently recognising own limits
• Flexible and able to cope with change
• Learns from experience and willing to adapt accordingly, including learning new skills.
• Able to critically appraise research articles
• Ability to communicate highly complex or sensitive advice and information to others

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust’s guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email [e-mail] to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email [e-mail] ) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.