South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust

Speech & Language Therapist

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Job summary

Are you a band 5 or 6 SLT who is keen to further develop in both an acute hospital setting and within a bedded stroke rehabilitation unit? We are looking for an individual who can work independently in dysphagia and has sound foundation skills and experience working in the acute setting and stroke.

You must be a team player with excellent time management skills and show enthusiasm, flexibility, adaptability and curiosity in your therapeutic management. You will be supported by band 7 therapists and be supporting more junior and unqualified staff. You will also have access to clinical supervision sessions and in house CPD.

We are a large forward-thinking department working across Warwickshire and believe in full clinical engagement in contributing towards improving the quality of our service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder works as an independent practitioner to provide speech and language therapy to patients who have acquired communication and swallowing difficulties across a specialist bedded stroke rehabilitation ward and general medical wards The post sits both within a dedicated stroke SLT team, and the inpatient acute team.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity. Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Date posted

18 July 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£32,306 to £39,027 a year pa

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

203-SS263

Job locations

George Eliot Hospital

Nuneaton

CV10 7DJ

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Result Areas:

To prioritise and manage own caseload independently.

To provide specialist speech and language therapy assessments for clients referred based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including standardised assessment, self-report measures, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care. This involves a high level of preparation, concentration and analytical skills.

To assess and ascribe a level of risk for dysphagic clients.

To input into the management of clients with tracheostomy and/or Nasogastric tubes

To formulate and implement management plans for the treatment and/or management of a clients speech and swallowing disorders, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients difficulties, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.

To assess and ascribe a level of risk using adjuncts to the bedside assessment, which require technical skill e.g. cervical auscultation, pulse oximetry etc.

To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, and intervention for clients under their care to both multidisciplinary teams and other, non-professional carers. This will encompass written documentation (SLT notes, med notes, specialist reports etc).

To agree options in collaboration with all those involved, in order to implement the individuals management plan which may include any combination of the following:

Therapeutic intervention with adults either individually or in groups.

Therapeutic intervention with carers either individually or in groups.

Directly supporting others in carrying out individual programmes.

Providing advice on specific strategies to employ in the home and other settings.

Negotiation with client or carer in order to identify and monitor SMART goals.

To identify and refer on to other specialists as appropriate (eg. ENT, videofluoroscopy etc).

To use negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations. To negotiate various roles to be taken in order to execute intervention plans effectively.

To maintain sensitivity at all times to emotional needs of client/carer when imparting distressing information.

To use skills in motivating clients and/or carers to engage in the therapeutic process.

To frequently demonstrate empathy sensitivity and understanding with clients, carers and families. To treat them with respect and dignity at all times.

To provide specialist communication assessment and intervention in order to identify and support a clients ability to manage their own affairs, with an acquired communication difficulty. To work with the multidisciplinary team in order to achieve this.

To regularly communicate highly complex and specialised information to others through written reports and face to face discussion matching communication style and content to the needs of the receiver.

To be involved in the planning for, and the delivery of education programmes for other professionals.

To be aware of Government papers and initiatives relating to neuro rehabilitation (e.g. RCP PDOC guidelines, NHSe specialist commissioning for neuro rehabilitation).

To adapt assessment and intervention to meet individual clients circumstances, with regards to cultural and linguistic differences. To support and advise the multidisciplinary team in this area.

To interact daily with families and clients who have recently experienced extremely traumatic events and who face an uncertain future.

To engage in regular conversation with clients addressing highly emotive issues, necessitating use of counselling skills to facilitate psychological adjustment to a dramatic change in their self-perception and quality of life.

To provide statistical information on own caseload, including activity and clinical effectiveness measures.

To participate in audit activities in the team and participate in audit both in the wider speech and language therapy service, and within multidisciplinary teams.

To participate in research in SLT team, SLT department or multidisciplinary teams.To utilise theory, evidence based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

To provide advice, consultation and training packages for staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and setting, where appropriate.

To provide advice, consultation and support for carers, and other non-professionals.

To assist in the support of students from other professional groups as appropriate.

To provide observation sessions for prospective SLT students.

To participate in clinical training for SLT students, and act as a mentor for Band 5 therapists as required.