Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Speech and Language Therapist

This job is now closed

Job summary

This specialist Speech & Language Therapy post provides input to in and outpatient patients (adults and children) presenting with voice, upper airways and muscle tension swallowing disorders arising from a wide range of aetiologies, with a focus on Post Covid symptoms. The post holder will help deliver the service available to local patients with voice and upper airways conditions post COVID-19. They will integrate with the Post COVID-19 Service at Whittington Health.

Main duties of the job

This post will help deliver speech and language therapy to outpatients (adults and children) with clinical voice disorders and upper airways conditions post COVID-19 (as part of a growing upper airways service). The post holder will support the Clinical Voice Lead in the development of protocols and pathways in these fields.

Experience of clinical voice disorders is essential and a passion for/experience of working with upper airways conditions (e.g., chronic cough, laryngeal hypersensitivity, and inducible laryngeal obstruction) is desirable.
An underpinning of knowledge of neurology for differential diagnosis in both neurolaryngology and neurology is desirable.
The post holder will work with the Clinical Voice Lead in the assessment and treatment of a caseload of patients referred from Whittington Health.
She/He/They will assist in the management of a caseload of outpatients presenting with voice, upper airways, and post COVID-19 related disorders.
She/He/They will liaise with the Post COVID-19 Service in Whittington Health and satellite organisations. This role will also include offering training and contributing to service developments, audit, outcome measurements and research.
She/He/They will work closely with MDT colleagues in ENT, the PostCOVID-19 service and support other SLTs on the wards/community services to deliver integrated care
The post holder will receive clinical supervision from the Clinical Voice Lead at Whittington Health.

About us

Whittington Health is an integrated care organisation, including the Whittington Hospital, a district general hospital in North central London. The post holder will join the ENT/Voice Speech and Language Therapy Service. It is an outpatient service staffed by a 0.8WTE Clinical Voice Lead. The service is based at the Whittington Hospital. It was commissioned for referrals for adults and children with clinical voice disorders from the Whittington ENT Department. The service provides assessment and therapy to outpatients alongside consultation to inpatients with voice disorders.

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Date posted

23 August 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£44,806 to £53,134 a year Pro rata per annum inclusive of HCAs

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

220-WHT-2466-A

Job locations

Whittington Hospital

Magdala Avenue

London

N19 5NF

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Demonstrate clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of voice, swallowing, and airway conditions in adults and children, predominantly as outpatients.

2. Provide specialist assessment and management of inpatient/outpatient adults and children with complex voice, upper airway disorders and Post COVID-19 symptoms.

3. Demonstrate robust knowledge of voice, swallowing and respiratory disorders underpinned by current evidence-based practice and outcome measures.

4. Demonstrate auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment diagnosis and treatment of patients with voice disorders.

5. Be flexible to the needs of a clinical caseload; to prioritise the caseload and maintain a database for future audit and research, managing time appropriately.

6. Develop and maintain good working relationships with all healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients.

7. Attend and contribute to MDT meetings, referring to other professionals and arranging joint working to ensure the delivery of effective, integrated therapy.

8. Support the dissemination of knowledge of voice, swallowing and airway work within the Trust and/or at a national and international level, through demonstration of specialist clinical practice and positive clinical outcomes.

9.To develop and maintain own specialist skills and knowledge in a specialist area through ongoing personal study, participation in clinical excellence networks, designated training courses and ensure the benefits are incorporated into clinical practice.

10. Reflect on clinical practice, adapt to evidence and feedback from clinical supervision, and contribute to the local Trust systems of clinical governance.

11. Be flexible to the needs of the service and demonstrate ability to respond to change positively as directed by lead clinicians.