Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

NHS; Erith; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist to deliver expert assessment and intervention to children with speech, language, and communication needs in a specialized school setting. The role involves supporting children with various learning disabilities while working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team. This position offers a unique opportunity to enhance the quality of care provided to vulnerable populations, making a significant impact on their development and independence.

Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree.
• Experience in Learning Disabilities, Autism, and AAC.
• HCPC and RCSLT registrations.

Responsibilities

• Provide highly specialist assessment, diagnosis and intervention for children.
• Coordinate the communication team to deliver high-quality support.
• Manage complex caseloads and make clinical decisions.

Skills

Clinical decision making

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent

Evidence of successful completion of a range of short courses at postgraduate level in Learning Disabilities, Autism, and AAC

Job description

Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

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.

About us

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're Kind
• We Listen
• We Care

Job 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 childs/young persons 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

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.

£51,883 to £58,544 a yearpro rata pa inc