Paediatric and Neonatal Lead Speech and Language Therapist

UHCW NHS Trust; Coventry; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust invites a highly experienced Speech and Language Therapist to lead neonatal and paediatric SLT services. You will work with neonates and paediatric inpatients, providing advanced assessments and developing care plans within a supportive multidisciplinary team.

The role emphasises leadership, service development, and clinical excellence, with opportunities for supervision, training and involvement in quality improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead, co-ordinate and deliver a high quality, evidence-based SLT service to neonates and paediatrics.
• Provide clinical supervision, training and support to SLTs and assistants.
• Autonomous practice with comprehensive assessment, diagnosis and treatment of feeding and swallowing difficulties in children 0-17 and neonates.

Job description

Paediatric and Neonatal Lead Speech and Language Therapist

A Vacancy at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

We are seeking a highly experienced Speech and Language Therapist to join our supportive and highly skilled team of22SLT's and5assistant practitioners. You will be working with neonate and paediatric inpatients at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. Energy,visionand clinicalexpertisewithin this field is essential. The successful candidate will be joining a Trust which actively nurtures and encourages innovation and service development and you will be supported by the management team to identify and facilitate service development and quality improvement opportunities. Ongoing learning and development is a priority at UHCW and is actively supported by the Trust.

Paediatric Services:

UHCW has one of the largest paediatric units in the West Midlands. Services for children are entirely provided from a dedicated Children’s Unit. At University Hospital there are 61 infant and children’s beds including a 12-bed adolescent unit, 6 High Dependency beds, 19 infant beds and 24 beds for older children, as well as a 6 bedded medical day unit.

Newborn Services

The hospital has a purpose-built Neonatal Unit with a capacity of 16 critical carecots(intensive care and high dependency) 8special carecotsand 12 transitional carecots. The unit is one of the two designated level 3 intensive care units for the Central Newborn Network.

• 1. Leading, co-ordinating and delivering a high quality, evidence-based Speech and Language Therapy service to the highly specialised and complex clinical area of neonates (working alongside Coventry & Warwickshire Neonatal AHPs Integrated Service) and paediatrics, requiring a highly advanced level of knowledge, skills and experience.
• 2. Providing clinical supervision, training and support
• 3. To work as an autonomous practitioner, providing comprehensive, specialist speech and language therapy assessment, differential diagnosis and treatment of children and babies who present with feeding and swallowing difficulties.
• 4. Work as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team, contributing to team discussions and influencing decisions about patient care programmes, taking on the role of care coordinator where appropriate.
• 5. To be a source of expertise and provide clinical support, where appropriate to other MDT colleagues, Health Care professionals including students and community services.
• 6. To lead SLT policy development within neonates and paediatric Speech and Language Therapy.
• 7. Use specialist knowledge to respond to urgent requests for input and ensure that referrals are prioritised and triaged effectively to ensure that high risk patients are seen urgently, and to expedite rapid assessment and discharge planning
• Abide by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists & the Health Professions Council standards of proficiency.
• To be responsible for the assessment, diagnosis and management of children with dysphagia and feeding difficulties from 0-17 years and babies within the neonatal service, prioritising clinical needs to provide an effective and efficient service.
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills to manage a caseload including highly complex and specialist cases, evidencing high level problem solving, reasoning skills and independence of judgement, seeking advice as appropriate.
• To develop specific care plans and provide appropriate intervention using specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision making for case management.
• To provide specialist advice to others regarding the management and care of children and neonates with feeding and swallowing difficulties using evidence-based practice and outcome measures.
• To work closely with parents/carers and professionals to agree effective management of feeding difficulties to support safe and positive feeding development.
• To comply with the safeguarding policies of the Trust, ensuring all concerns, incidents and allegations are reported in line with this.
• To demonstrate negotiation skills to develop effective working relationships with patients, carers and their families, and contribute to interagency/multi-disciplinary team building, developing effective working relationships with members of the multi disciplinary team, related agencies and colleagues.
• To evaluate the outcomes of intervention and demonstrate clinical effectiveness, and by use of evidence-based practice and outcome measures.
• To maintain up-to-date and accurate case notes in line with HCPC and RCSLprofessional standards and local trust policies, including assessment results, treatment plans and reporting to source of referral and other appropriate colleagues. Reports will reflect specialist knowledge of diagnosis and individualised management/care plans and be of a high standard.
• To contribute to clinical teams both multi-disciplinary and uni-disciplinary by discussing own and others’ input around patients’ needs ensuring a well-co-ordinated care plan.
• To communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions. This involves maintaining sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of patients and families, in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the patient’s difficulties and implications of the same.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.

We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.

Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.

We are proud to be recognised as a Pathway to Excellence® designated organisation – Pathway To Excellence ® - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)

By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.

The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation's core values.

Informal visits are welcomed.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.

Successful applicants will be required to provide an immunisation and vaccination report, from either their current UK occupational health provider or their UK GP.

This advert closes on Sunday 25 Oct 2026