Speech & Language Therapy Assistant

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a permanent Band 3 Assistant Speech & Language Therapist to support adult SLT services from the Denton Park Health Centre. The role involves assisting with referrals, preparing materials, and delivering delegated interventions under supervision for patients seen at home and in hospital settings.

We require a capable communicator with experience of adults with impaired communication and a flexible, energetically supportive team

Qualifications

• Minimum NVQ level 3 or equivalent.
• Valid driving licence.
• Experience with communication-impaired adult patients.
• Experience delivering programmes devised by other professionals.
• Knowledge of health care system workings.
• Experience with swallowing impairments (dysphagia).
• Knowledge of communication disorders in adults.
• Knowledge of assistive and augmentative communication methods.
• Knowledge of System One.
• Experience with multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Assist Speech and Language Therapists in providing a quality service for patients with acquired communication and swallowing problems.
• Provide advice/training with patients, families and other MDT members on the use of assistive and augmentative communication methods.
• Gather information via phone from other hospital sites, care homes and/or family members.
• Be responsible for stock maintenance and ordering of equipment.
• Implement speech therapy designed treatment programmes, making modifications within programmes to suit patient circumstances and progress.
• Perform administrative and clerical duties.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Organisational skills

Education

NVQ level 3 or equivalent

Tools

System One

Job description

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country. We have around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion.

With strong history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation regionally, nationally and internationally, we’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country.

As well as providing a wide range of hospital and community services, we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under‑represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a permanent Band 3 Assistant Speech & Language Therapist to work with the adult team. The post is based at the Community location, Denton Park Health Centre delivering a service to people with acquired communication and or swallowing problems. The role involves supporting the work of speech and language therapists by providing routine administration duties, preparing materials for assessment and delivering delegated interventions directly with patients and their carers. Patients are largely seen at home, nursing homes and at hospital bedside. We require someone with excellent communication skills who has work experience of adults and preferably those with impaired communication. Knowledge of system one is highly desirable. Our chosen candidate will be a supportive team member with lots of energy, a flexible approach to each working day and a genuine interest in people. In turn you can expect to be supported by the team and gain experience with our expert team.

• Interview Date Tuesday 20 October 2026

Main duties of the job

• Administration of referrals, appointments, discharge
• Proof reading reports and email to recipients
• Preparing assessment and therapy materials
• Working with patients on delegated therapy interventions
• Supporting therapists in group sessions
• Setting up communication aids
• Supporting therapists in teaching sessions

Working for our organisation

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:

• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria

These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting‑edge care (supported by state‑of‑the‑art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.

We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.

For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To assist Speech and Language Therapists in providing a quality service for patients with acquired communication and swallowing problems. This essentially includes:

• To assist in clinical procedures, within competence, with specialist SLT staff.
• To provide advice/training with patients, families and other members of the MDT on the use of Assistive and Augmentative communication methods
• To gather information via phone from other hospital sites, care homes and/or family members
• To be responsible for stock maintenance and ordering of equipment
• To implement speech therapy designed treatment programmes, making modifications within programmes to suit patient circumstances and progress
• To perform administrative and clerical duties

Whilst Newcastle Hospitals are a forward thinking and highly innovative organisation, the use of Third-Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity of your individual application or to the recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

Person specification

Qualifications & Education

• Minimum NVQ level 3 or equivalent
• Valid driving licence

Knowledge & Experience

• Relevant experience in dealing with communication impaired adult patients
• Experience of delivering work/programmes devised by other professionals
• Breadth of knowledge of health care system / workings
• Experience of working with those with swallowing impairments (dysphagia)
• General knowledge of speech and swallowing disorders in adults
• General knowledge of communication disorders in adults
• General knowledge of assistive and augmentative communication methods
• Knowledge of system one
• Experience working with disabled, highly distressed people or people with long term conditions
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organisational skills.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Jane Appleton Job title Head of Service: Speech & Language Therapy Email address [e-mail]