Specialist Speech and Language Therapist | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Greater London is seeking a Speech and Language Therapist to support the development of therapy provision within a young offenders prison. The role involves working as part of an Integrated Mental Health Team, providing assessments and treatment plans for service users to enhance communication skills. Candidates should have a relevant degree and experience in mental health settings. A commitment to professional development and collaborative practice is essential.

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Supportive working environment

Qualifications

• Experience working within mental health settings.
• Ability to manage own caseload autonomously.
• Competence in conducting speech and language assessments.

Responsibilities

• Work with service users to improve communication skills.
• Provide assessments and develop treatment plans.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary team members.

Skills

Speech and language assessments

Communication skills

Autonomy

Teamwork

Clinical supervision

Education

Relevant degree in Speech and Language Therapy

Job description

This is an exciting new post providing a unique opportunity to support the development of the Speech and Language Therapy provision in a young offenders prison within the South London forensic services. We are looking for a speech and language therapist to join our rich MDT and contribute to the SLT pathway within our mental health care provision in a challenging but rewarding environment.

Clinical

• To work as a member of the Integrated Mental Health Team at HMP/YOI Isis.
• To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and case closure of service users.
• To be professionally accountable for own caseload, working autonomously in a variety of settings.
• To act as lead professional for those on the allocated caseload.
• To undertake speech and language assessments of service users based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of information from a variety of sources including formal and informal assessment, observation and interviews with service users, and others involved in the service user's care.
• 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're Fair
  • We Listen
  • We Care
• To provide timely and accurate reports that provide a diagnosis, assessment and recommendations and comply with best practice guidelines.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the communication assessment, formulation and treatment plans of service users and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
• To work with service users and other members of the MDT to achieve identified goals and to promote social inclusion, independence and well-being. 10. To develop accessible information in order to support service users where required.
• To formulate and implement treatment programmes for the management of service user's communication needs and provide advice to service users with communication difficulties.
• To develop and implement individual and/or group interventions, in collaboration with service users and the MDT to achieve therapeutic goals.
• To engage the service user in therapeutic activities and encourage and support them to achieve their identified goals.
• To monitor and evaluate treatment in order to measure progress and modify treatment plans to ensure effectiveness of clinical interventions.
• To participate in the clinical decision-making process regarding service user care programmes as part of the MDT.
• To attend relevant case conferences and MDT meetings.
• To plan own workload, managing competing demands to ensure care is delivered according to clinical priority.
• To seek second opinions and highly specialist advice where necessary. Including onward referral for dysphagia assessment.
• To participate in MDT team meetings, promote multi-professional links and play a full role in local initiatives.
• To undertake specialist SLT assessments particularly with men with SLCN and neurodivergent needs.
• To contribute to and support the diagnostic pathways for ASD and other neurodivergent needs.

Teaching, training and supervision

• To receive regular professional clinical supervision from a senior SLT clinician.
• To prepare for and participate in an annual job appraisal.
• To contribute to and support training and education in speech, language and communication needs to other clinical staff, non-clinical staff, students, prison officers and other prison partnership agencies as appropriate.
• To contribute to professional and clinical supervision of any junior members of the speech and language therapy service such as assistants, students, and volunteers.
• To form links with other Speech and Language Therapists who work in the areas of mental health, learning disabilities and forensic.

Management and Service development

• From time to time carry out duties, appropriate to grade and experience, which may reasonably be requested by the Clinical Service Manager, Head of Therapies, SLT Professional lead or Highly specialist speech and language therapist within the prison.
• To manage their own workload and support the management of workload of junior staff, assistants and students, within the framework of the team/service's policies and procedures.
• Attend and actively contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings, speech and language therapy staff meetings, relevant Clinical Excellence Network groups, in-service training and implement any action plans related to these meetings.
• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the in-service MDT's operational policies and services through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users in relation to their communication difficulties and to provide advice to other professionals on communication aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

General and Administrative Responsibilities

• Maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with relevant professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.
• To use computer software/packages to write reports, record data and send and receive e-mails.
• Undertake administrative tasks in relation to own work.
• Prepare informal assessment material, therapeutic material, teaching materials and other speech and language therapy service literature.
• Write letters and reports on service user's progress for distribution to relevant professionals.
• Contribute to MDT reports.
• Record information required for statistical purposes in an accurate and timely manner.

Research and service evaluation

• Keep up to date with new developments in the field, critically evaluating available research and disseminating information to inform evidence-based practice.
• Maintain a personal professional profile of learning activity in compliance with professional body requirements.
• To undertake project management, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Equipment

• To be responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment/resources ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained, including equipment loaned to clients.
• To have a personal duty of care to ensure all equipment is used safely and effectively following manufacturer's instructions and reporting any defects in accordance with local procedures.

General

• It is inevitable that the post holder will be required to deal with distressed people and find themselves in challenging and / or risky situations as they will be working with people with learning disability and mental health problems / challenging behaviours.
• To carry out effective assessment and management of risk in all relevant settings.
• To ensure the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the potholder's service manager.
• To maintain professional registration with the appropriate bodies. This includes being aware of, and complying with, the policy and requirements of those professional bodies. It is your responsibility to ensure that your registration is renewed when necessary and that you formally confirm all renewals with your manager.
• To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.
• To meet the requirements of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) appropriate outline for the post.
• To have a duty of care to yourself and to others with whom you come into contact in the course of your work as laid down in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any subsequent amendment or legislation.

Important Information, PLEASE READ

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team. You will need to provide: Proof of right to work documentation Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID Proof of address documentation Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously. Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .