Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Complex Needs

NHS; Crewe; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Crewe seeks a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist to assess and provide interventions for pre-school children with complex needs. The successful candidate will lead a team, offering clinical leadership and peer supervision, while contributing to service development. Applicants should have extensive experience with children, strong leadership skills, and relevant postgraduate qualifications. A supportive environment with opportunities for career development is offered.

Qualifications

• HCPC Registration is mandatory.
• Comprehensive experience of working with children is essential.
• SEND knowledge is crucial.

Responsibilities

• Act as an expert source of knowledge offering clinical advice.
• Manage a defined highly complex patient caseload.
• Provide clinical leadership to the Early Years service team.

Skills

IT Skills

Assessment and treatment of paediatric patients

Dysphagia Skills

Education

Postgraduate qualifications in relevant areas

Postgrad qualifications in leadership

Job description

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Complex Needs

The closing date is 18 December 2025

Are you an experienced Speech and Language Therapist who enjoys working with children? Would you like to play a central role in service development & help to lead others?

I’m Mat, the Community Operational Manager for Paediatrics in CCICP, and I would love to tell you about an opportunity to come and join our Children and Young People Speech and Language Service based in our South Cheshire locality.

This role would be centred around providing assessment and intervention for pre‑school children in the Early Years & complex needs sector. We are looking for an experienced therapist who has extensive knowledge and skills in working with young children and their families, with excellent understanding of local and national strategies. The role may also involve working with children with complex needs.

This role would also involve leadership over the team of Early Years & Complex needs therapists, including providing direct peer supervision, evaluation and monitoring of caseloads, and help with discussions around career progression. You would also link directly in with me as an operational manager to provide data and reassurance around delivery of this element of the service.

You would be well supported by an excellent locality manager, and would receive consistent peer support from the wider team around you. The role would also have opportunity for career development and progression.

Main duties of the job

• To act as an expert source of knowledge, offering specialist clinical advice and support to other healthcare professionals and agencies across organisational boundaries
• To work autonomously to manage a defined highly complex patient caseload whilst working as part of a multidisciplinary team
• To contribute to the delivery of the service in a variety of defined clinical settings, with specific focus on the Early Years Service
• To provide clinical leadership to the Early Years service team including peer supervision & Motiv8 conversations
• To collect and analyse data around the Early Years service team to provide reassurance re service delivery
• To work alongside the locality lead for Speech and Language Therapy to help to manage the Early Years Service team
• To actively contribute innovative ideas and lead on the development and implementation of service improvements
• To initiate, plan, deliver and evaluate formal and informal training to other health care professional staff groups, patients and carers, across a range of settings
• To ensure effective day to day organisation and provision of service, including the coordination of junior staff and assistants to meet service priorities

About us

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) provides good quality, safe and effective healthcare to the people of Cheshire and beyond. The Trust, which manages Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford, was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991 and became a Foundation Trust in April 2008.

We employ almost 5,000 members of staff, provide around 540 hospital beds, with a range of services including accident and emergency, maternity, outpatients, therapies, and children's health.

The Trust is also part of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP), a unique local health partnership that provides a range of community services for people across South Cheshire and Vale Royal.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Trust was recognised nationally for its ‘Be Safe Be EquiPPEd’ campaign, which aimed to make the Trust as safe as possible for staff and patients, through supporting the correct use of PPE.

The results in the 2020 national NHS Staff Survey showed improvements in all elements of the safety culture theme, with 92% of respondents feeling their role made a difference to our patients. We were also recognised nationally for our workforce health and wellbeing initiatives.

At Mid Cheshire, we value our staff and appreciate that in order to give our patients the best quality, compassionate care, we also need to look after our colleagues.

Qualifications

• HCPC Registration
• Postgraduate qualifications in relevant areas
• Postgrad qualifications in leadership

Experience

• Comprehensive experience of working with children
• Experience of working within early years settings
• Experience of leadership/supervision
• SEND knowledge

Skills

• IT Skills
• Skillset evident around assessment and treatment of paediatric patients with speech, language and communication difficulties
• Dysphagia Skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.