Principal Speech and Language Therapist Dysphagia

Job summary

Due to the retirement of the current post-holder, an exciting opportunity has arisen to join the East Kent Children and Young People's Therapy Team in Ashford as the principal dysphagia specialist.

You will be the lead therapist for paediatric dysphagia across the East Kent Hospital NHS Trust and is the only paediatric specialist within the Trust in this area.

The post holder will provide an expert speech and language therapy service to patients aged 0-19 with eating and drinking difficulties across a range of settings.

You will provide clinical support and leadership to junior staff within the service and assist the Leadership Team in the planning and development of dysphagia service and ensure the standard of delivery meets clinical governance requirements.

You will also organise video fluoroscopy clinics in conjunction with the radiology department in Ashford.

You will be part of a supportive team.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for co-ordinating the therapy provision for infants, children and young people with dysphagia needs across Folkestone, Ashford and Dover.

You will supervise and support a number of speech and language therapists who work across the 3 localities to provide assessment and intervention for dysphagia.

You will also work closely with the management team within the Children and Young People's Therapy service, advising on policy and service development.

About us

We are a Children and Young People's Therapy Service, consisting of over 90 therapists and assistants in SLT, OT and physiotherapy. We recognise the benefits of integrated working with our Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy colleagues.

The community team work out of three different localities, The Rainbow Centre in Ashford, The Beacon Centre in Folkestone and the Children's Assessment Unit at Buckland Hospital, Dover. We have over 90 other therapists in our team, ranging from assistants, junior therapists to more senior specialists.

We encourage an evidenced based, outcome focused approach to meeting the needs of our service users. We provide assessment and intervention based on a child's individual need regardless of their age (0-19 years).

Situated in Kent, the Garden of England, with easy access to London and close to the university city of Canterbury, which is vibrant and lively with a theatre, bars and restaurants as well as many historic sites.