Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

NHS; Preston; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Part time

Job summary

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting a Band 6 Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join the Specialist Autism Team. The role focuses on assessing and supporting communication needs of autistic adults across Lancashire and South Cumbria, in community and inpatient settings.

The post is 30 hours per week, typically 9am–5pm, Monday to Friday, with some flexibility and core team meetings.

Qualifications

• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with HCPC registration.
• Experience in autism/learning disability/mental health settings.
• Commitment to person-centred care and continuing professional development (CPD).

Responsibilities

• Support the Specialist Autism Team in outreach and inpatient pathways.
• Carry out SLT assessments and interventions for autistic adults.
• Collaborate within the MDT to develop and deliver person-centred care plans and reduce hospital admissions.

Skills

Communication assessment

Intervention planning

Autism support

Education

Bsc/ MSc in Speech and Language Therapy

Job description

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

The closing date is 24 September 2026

The post holder will support the provision of the Autism Team to autistic individuals and complex healthcare needs across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Your role will be to ensure that the person's communication needs are assessed and considered. You will be a registered Speech and Language Therapist who will undertake appropriately delegated work to support the care and treatment of autistic adults within the community and inpatient settings. You will be a key member of the multi-disciplinary team and will work with the team to develop and deliver person centred care plans with the emphasis on preventing unnecessary hospital admissions. Where hospital admission is deemed appropriate, you shall support the inpatient team by providing intervention support regarding communication.

You will 30 hours between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Some flexibility is required to meet the needs of the team and the wider network. The specific hours are open to discussion however you will be require to work the same days at the team core meetings, currently these are a Tuesday and Thursday but may change.

The post holder shall support the delivery of the Specialist Autism Service team model through the provision of routine speech and language therapy assessment and interventions in order to maintain, restore or create a match beneficial to the individual between the abilities of the person, and the demands of the environment/ communication culture around them.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Speech and language therapist to join the Specialist Autism Team, a unique and continuously developing service which works closely with secondary mental health care services to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions for autistic individuals.

This role is to work within the team supporting the outreach and inpatient pathways with expert knowledge and neuroaffective practice. You will be required to support the team with the whole team tasks, such as duty and assessments as well as delivering your own specialist interventions. Therefore this post is a fantastic opportunity for a creative and innovative practitioner with a passion for delivering person-centred care, which is driven by the individuals whom we support.

The Specialist Autism Team adopts a multidisciplinary team approach to working which supports the evolutionary scope of the service. The MDT is made up of Occupational Therapists, Nurses (RMN & RLD), Speech and Language Therapists, Social Workers , Therapy Assistants & Clinical Psychologists.

Through such an approach we are continually learning, developing and findings different ways of working in order to meet the needs and wishes of the individuals we work with. For this reason we have regular team development sessions and each team member plays a vital role in sharing knowledge and information.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Qualifications

• Bsc/ Msc in Speech and Language Therapy
• Documented evidence of continuing professional development
• Our vision: high quality care, in the right place, at the right time, every time.

Knowledge

• Ability to support autistic people on an individual and group basis
• Knowledge of evidence-based practice
• Knowledge of contemporary autism policy

Experience

• Previous experience pre or post qualification in learning disability, autism or mental health setting
• Awareness of a range of SLT assessments and interventions
• Broad range of under graduate practice placement experience

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.

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

£39,959 to £48,117 a yearPer Annum Pro Rata