Senior Clinician Speech and Language Therapist (Inpatient) | East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Blackburn; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in Blackburn seeks a dedicated Speech and Language Therapist to deliver specialized services to adults with neurological communication and swallowing disorders. The successful candidate will join a collaborative team with opportunities for continual professional development and involvement in innovative service initiatives. This role offers structured support and is well-equipped for professional growth.

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Structured support and supervision

Collaborative team environment

Qualifications

• Experience providing Speech and Language Therapy to adults with neurological disorders.
• Ability to undertake Videofluoroscopy and collaborate with the clinical team.
• Strong focus on continual service improvement.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist Speech and Language Therapy Services in hospital settings.
• Promote understanding of clinical disorders and therapy services.
• Lead improvement projects within the clinical service.

Skills

Dysphagia expertise

Communication skills

Experience in acute settings

Videofluoroscopy competence

Education

Relevant Speech and Language Therapy degree

Job description

We are looking for someone who is ready to specialise in dysphagia and communication in the acute setting. Our expanding inpatient service covers acute and medical wards at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Our inpatient team has a strong everyday improvement focus and recognises the value of speech & language therapy services in supporting right care, right place initiatives, and enabling a seamless pathway and collaboration between hospital and community.

We have established videofluoroscopy and FEES pathways and the successful applicant will have the opportunity to observe these clinics and have access to both objective and instrumental assessments for patients on their caseload.

We welcome applications from band 5 SLTs with relevant skills looking to grow their experience with structured and competency‑based support. A B5/6 transition post will be considered.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist Speech and Language Therapy Services to adults with acquired neurological disorders of communication and swallowing in hospital settings.
• Promote an understanding of clinical disorders and speech and language therapy services.
• Undertake Videofluoroscopy to level of competence.
• Support the Clinical Team Lead in the design and delivery of the inpatient clinical care pathway.
• Actively lead and engage in continual improvement projects within the service with a strong focus on working differently to meet clinical demand, peripheral hospital site management and preventable and avoidable admissions in collaboration with our community team.

This service operates over six days (Mon‑Sat).

About the Trust

Established in 2003 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) is a large integrated health care organisation providing high quality acute secondary healthcare for the people of East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen.

Our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 700,000 patients a year from the most serious of emergencies to planned operations and procedures. We employ over 8,000 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work and achievements.

The SLT service has an experienced team of clinical leads – Critical Care, Dysphagia, Voice, Head & Neck, Stroke, FEES, Videofluoroscopy, Neurorehabilitation and Community (including progressive disease).

Actively involved in a range of service and workforce initiatives across the Lancashire and South Cumbria IC and research including collaborations with ELHT & AHP Professor in Neurorehabilitation and Stroke.

The service is well equipped and is supported by a team of administrators and Therapy Assistant Practitioners. Regular team meetings, an annual SLT Showcase of best practice, SLT, Stroke and Neuro Improvement Showcase and continual improvement is embedded in our daily work and service improvement initiatives.

We are committed to continuing professional development and this is underpinned by supervision, regular line management and an annual appraisal system.

Attached you will find the job description and person specification document which provides more detail about the essential and desirable skills and experience needed for this role. We highly recommend you review this document and use it when completing your application as these criteria are used by hiring managers as guidance during shortlisting.

This advert closes on Wednesday 3 Dec 2025