Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Erith; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 59,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading trust in the NHS seeks a Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist to provide expert assessment and intervention for children with diverse communication needs. Working within a state-of-the-art school environment, the successful candidate will lead a multidisciplinary team and deliver high-quality care while enhancing the skills of colleagues and parents alike. This part-time opportunity allows for flexible working hours and involvement in shaping training and therapeutic practices.

Qualifications

• HCPC and RCSLT registration required.
• Experience in assessing children's communication skills with complex needs.
• Experience in delivering training programmes.

Responsibilities

• Provide highly specialist assessment and intervention to children with speech and language needs.
• Coordinate support delivery across an established communication team.
• Deliver training to staff and parents about communication development.

Skills

Specialist Speech and Language Therapy

Multidisciplinary Team Collaboration

Communication Skills Development

Education

Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent

Evidence of successful completion of CPD relating to leadership

Job description

Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Band 7

Main area Children & Young People Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week Job ref 277-7274723-CYP

Site Erith Hospital Town Erith Salary £51,883 - £58,544 pro rata pa inc Salary period Yearly Closing 30/06/2025 23:59

Job overview

At Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, we offer a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people living in South-East London and to people in prison across England. Our wide array of services includes community health care, such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Oxleas is a great place to work. It has been recognised as one of the Top 10 Best Places to Work 2023 by the Sunday Times amongst very big employers. Our staff survey results show that we are in the Top 5 in England and the highest in London for staff experience amongst similar trusts.

The post holder will provide highly specialist assessment, diagnosis and intervention to children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs attending Shenstone Special School. This will include children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Learning Disabilities (LD) including Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), and Multisensory Impairment (MSI). Shenstone School is an all-through (special primary and secondary) school, operating across 3 sites, for children and young people who have severe and/or complex learning difficulties.

Main duties of the job

Shenstone has an established Communication Team consisting of Speech and Language Therapists and school-employed communication assistants. The post holder will coordinate how the team continues to deliver high quality and high impact support across the school, with support from both the Special School Coordinator and the school leadership team.

The post holder will also act as a resource within the Speech and Language Therapy service in the areas of Learning Disabilities, MSI, AAC and Autism and will maintain a high level of specialist knowledge in these areas. The post holder will work closely with the clinical lead for AAC within the service as and when needed.

The post holder will provide highly specialist second opinions to Speech and Language Therapists and education staff and be an integral member of the multidisciplinary team providing an integrated care pathway. The post holder will work as part of a team with class-teachers, learning support assistants, head teacher, therapists, and the child/young person’s family / carers.

The post holder will participate in the co-ordination, development and delivery of training programmes and information for school staff, parents and carers and colleagues in health and education and will contribute to Trust, service, and professional wide initiatives.

Working for our organisation

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We Listen
• We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To demonstrate highly specialist knowledge in clinical specialism of Learning Disabilities, MSI, AAC and Autism underpinned by current evidence-based practice.
• To manage complex and highly specialist caseload independently and plan the workload of others where required
• To make highly specialist clinical decisions following assessment of complex cases and to work within a multidisciplinary team for assessment and provision planning/implementation.
• To manage, lead and provide highly specialist supervision and PDR review to therapists working within the areas of clinical specialisms.
• To work in partnership with parents /carers and education staff, to support them to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence with regard to developing independence and management of the child’s/young person’s communication skills.
• To adapt practice to meet the individual circumstances of child and family, including due regard for cultural and linguistic differences.
• To meet with parents, child, and young people, taking and responding to feedback to develop care pathways and the quality of child and parent information alongside the Special School Coordinator.
• To participate in the development of local clinical guidelines informed by evidence for children and young people with Speech, Language, and communication needs (SLCN).
• To attend relevant training and development in order to maintain and develop skills and knowledge required of a highly specialist therapist and maintain up to date HCPC and RCSLT registration.
• To demonstrate knowledge of the school-age and school-specific curriculums to enable effective goal setting.
• To work collaboratively with relevant external partners such as colleagues in education, health, and social care.
• To demonstrate knowledge of, and adhere to RCSLT Professional, National and Local Clinical Guidelines with particular reference to SLCN, Learning Disabilities and Autism.
• To develop and deliver specialist training (formal and informal) to parents, young people, and professionals in specialist area.
• To keep up to date with new techniques and developments for the promotion and maintenance of good practice in specialist area.
• To provide second opinions/advice to non-specialists and other specialists within clinical field.
• To demonstrate a sound working knowledge of the principles of Clinical Governance and their application to professional practice.
• To be flexible to the demands of the environment including unpredictable work patterns, deadlines, and frequent interruptions.
• To work within infection control and health and safety guidelines in order to deal appropriately with conditions related to client contact as they arise: for example exposure to body fluids, infectious conditions.

Person specification

Education

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
• Evidence of successful completion of a range of short courses at post graduate level in particular on Learning Disabilities, Autism and AAC
• Evidence of successful completion of CPD relating to leadership

Registrations

• HCPC Registration
• RCSLT Registration
• Experience in supervising/supporting staff
• Experience in contributing to policy, planning and service development.

Experience

• Experience of assessing and providing a range of therapeutic interventions necessary to address the communication skills of children and young people with complex needs as per the job description
• Experience of planning, organising, and delivering training programmes
• Experience of multi-disciplinary and inter agency working

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme - Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.

We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.

Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process. We also discourage overuse of AI during the application process because this can negatively impact the quality of your application and may hinder your chances of being shortlisted. Thank you.

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.