Therapy Lead

Kent Community Health Nhs Foundation Trust; Chestfield; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Supportive team environment

Opportunities for service development

Job summary

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust in the UK is seeking an enthusiastic Therapy Lead to support frontline NHS teams in delivering excellent patient care within the community. The role focuses on stroke and neurological rehabilitation, with emphasis on leadership of a multidisciplinary team.

You will hold a Degree or diploma in Speech and Language Therapy with HCPC registration; NHS experience is valued but not essential.

Qualifications

• Degree or diploma in Speech and Language Therapy and current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Significant post-registration experience, including substantial senior experience in stroke or neurological rehabilitation and independent management of complex communication and swallowing disorders.
• Ability to lead a multidisciplinary team and prioritise competing clinical and operational demands.

Responsibilities

• Support frontline NHS teams to deliver excellent patient care in the community.
• Provide clinical leadership and supervision within the speech and language therapy service.
• Contribute to service development and audit to improve patient outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Stroke rehabilitation

Clinical reasoning

Communication

Education

SLT degree

Tools

FEES

Videofluoroscopy

Job description

Job summary

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare. Nursing and AHP vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses/AHPs. The NHS is changing. More emphasis on community-based care means there's never been a better time to join us. We are looking for an enthusiastic and adaptable Therapy Lead to join our professional team. We’re a close team but we’re never exclusive, if you can bring a professional approach and fresh ideas we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

Could you use your skills and experience to support the NHS to deliver great patient care? Great patient care needs great people to support clinical teams. That’s where you come in. We’re always looking for enthusiastic, responsive, and adaptable people to join our outstanding trust. This role is an important one as you’ll be using your knowledge, experience and expertise to provide support to our hard-working frontline NHS teams. We put patients first and we expect all of our colleagues to do the same, so although NHS experience isn’t a requirement for this role you’ll need to share our passion for delivering excellent patient care and keep that passion at the forefront of your professional activity at all times. The challenges come thick and fast in this role but you’ll know that your input is contributing to the excellent experience our patients and service users have every day.

Additional Working Pattern

22.5

About us

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is currently undertaking a significant programme of transformation to align our community services to the new Neighbourhood Model of care delivery, there will be a period of consultation which may result in changes affecting some services, teams or roles. Depending on the area you are applying to work in, this could include potential changes to your role, work base, reporting arrangements, or terms and conditions of employment. Any changes would be subject to consultation and managed sensitively and in line with relevant employment processes. Please do contact the recruiting manager if you have any concerns about this so they can answer any questions you might have. Rated ‘Outstanding’ by CQC, we deliver high-quality care that improves the health of our communities. We are looking for people who share our values: Compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive and Excellent. We are proud to be an inclusive, welcoming organisation and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We use protected characteristic information for monitoring only and it is not seen by recruiting managers, except where applicants choose to be considered under our disability guaranteed interview scheme. We know life outside work matters. As a flexible working-friendly organisation, we welcome conversations about arrangements that help you thrive while supporting excellent care for our patients.

Details

Date posted: 26 October 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 7

Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum pro rata

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Part-time

Reference number: 846-8321205-UJ

Job description

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via [e-mail], quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further. The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate. At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve. Find out more about the community difference here.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or diploma in Speech and Language Therapy and current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Desirable

• Membership of an appropriate professional or specialist network.

Experience

Essential

• Significant post-registration experience, including substantial senior experience in stroke or neurological rehabilitation and independent management of complex communication and swallowing disorders

Desirable

• Postgraduate study relevant to stroke, dysphagia, communication, leadership or service improvement; competence in FEES and/or videofluoroscopy;

Knowledge

Essential

• Advanced knowledge and clinical reasoning relevant to stroke, adult acquired communication disorders and dysphagia, and their impact on rehabilitation, wellbeing, participation, nutrition, hydration and discharge.

Desirable

• Ability to lead a multidisciplinary team, prioritise competing clinical and operational demands and delegate safely to registered and non-registered colleagues.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Harmony House Our Zone, Rochester, ME1 2RB, United Kingdom

Employer's website: https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Therapy Lead, Andrea Dennis, [e-mail]

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice