Principal SLT – SW London Community Fees and Dysphagia Lead

Job summary

Thanks to a successful bid for National Stroke SQUIRE funding, an innovative and exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced FEES trained Speech and Language Therapist (SLT). The role includes providing consultative specialist advice and support for Community stroke and neuro SLTs working in the field of dysphagia and the setting up, overseeing and evaluation of a pilot SWL Community Fibre-optic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) Service.

The postholder would be employed by St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and be managed within the Wandsworth Community Neuro Team, but would be expected to work with SLTs, community neuro teams and patients across the whole of SW London (Wandsworth, Merton, Sutton, Richmond, Kingston, Croydon).

Applicants will have extensive FEES experience in the adult setting, and good working knowledge of neurological dysphagia presentations and rehabilitation, ideally within a community setting.

The service is committed to continuing professional development and offers many learning opportunities through in-house training, journal clubs, peer support and specialist courses as required.

This is a full time post, however applications for part time hours may be considered for the right applicant.

Main duties of the job

Supporting Dysphagia Management of Patients in SW London (SWL):

The post holder will provide consultative advice, training and support for community neuro SLTs working in the field of dysphagia across SWL. This may involve advising or providing joint sessions, second opinions and supporting SLTs to deliver highly specialist treatment and advice for highly complex dysphagia presentations.

Leadership of the Community FEES SW London Service:

The post holder will be the Lead SLT responsible for setting up and overseeing the SWL Community Fibre-optic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) Service, (one year pilot project). This will involve co-ordinating the procurement and maintenance of equipment required, development and review of policies, devising and managing ongoing service organisation, training and upskilling Community SLTs in the community. The post holder will then support the ongoing running and governance of the service.

The post holder will be expected to gather data and user feedback on the impact of the Community FEES service. It will be the post holder's responsibility to collate, present and distribute project findings to the appropriate bodies (e.g. ICB, National SQUIRE Team, RCSLT). This will contribute to growing body of knowledge and evidence for the use of FEES in the community and help secure funding beyond the life of the pilot.

About us

With over 9,000 dedicated staff caring for patients around the clock, we are the largest healthcare provider in southwest London. Our main site, St George's Hospital in Tooting - one of the country's principal teaching hospitals - is shared with St George's, University of London, which trains medical students and carries out advanced medical research. St George's Hospital also hosts the St George's, University of London and Kingston University Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, which is responsible for training a wide range of healthcare professionals from across the region. As well as acute hospital services, we provide a wide variety of specialist care and a full range of community services to patients of all ages following integration with Community Services Wandsworth in 2010. St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of 1.3 million across southwest London. A large number of services, such as cardiothoracic medicine and surgery, neurosciences and renal transplantation, also cover significant populations from Surrey and Sussex, totalling around 3.5 million people.