Job responsibilities
*To manage a caseload of adults with learning disabilities who have complex communication difficulties and / or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia).
*To explore and understand a client's learning capacity, and to approach gaining informed consent in ways which demonstrate good practice and conform to Trust consent policies. To ensure that consent is approached within the legal framework for clients who may be deemed to lack capacity to consent to treatment.
*To develop care plans and provide appropriate intervention using specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements and decision-making for case management.
*To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of clients with communication and / or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia).
*To promote and enable service user and support network involvement, including providing appropriate support around choice making and consideration of intervention options.
*To play a central advisory role within the multidisciplinary team regarding creative ways to involve service users in their assessment and support. This includes the production of accessible information underpinning clinical work.
*To comply with Trust safeguarding policies, ensuring all concerns, incidents and allegations are reported in line with established protocols.
*To demonstrate strong communication and negotiation skills to develop effective working relationships with clients, carers and their families, and contribute to interagency / multi-disciplinary team working. This will facilitate effective working relationships with clients, support networks, members of the multi-disciplinary team, related agencies and colleagues.
*To evaluate outcomes of intervention and demonstrate clinical effectiveness, including use of evidence-based practice and effective outcome measures.
*To maintain up-to-date and accurate case notes in line with HCPC and RCSLT professional standards and local trust policies, including assessment results, treatment plans and reporting to source of referral and other appropriate colleagues. Reports will reflect knowledge of diagnosis and management / care plans.
*To contribute to clinical teams, both multi-disciplinary and uni-disciplinary, by discussing own and others' input around clients' needs, ensuring a well co-ordinated care plan. This may include taking the Speech & Language Therapy lead at case conferences.
*To communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team / other professions. This involves maintaining sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of clients and their carers - in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the client's difficulties and implications of the same.
*To demonstrate empathy with clients, carers and families, and with colleagues, ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist.
*To motivate and facilitate clients and / or carers to engage in the therapeutic process, demonstrating the skills of working productively with people who may be under stress and / or have challenging communication difficulties.
*To develop enhanced negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations, seeking advice and support to resolve, where appropriate.
*To demonstrate the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of client's communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communication effectiveness.
*To adapt practice to meet individual clients and client circumstances, including cultural and linguistic differences.
*To manage and prioritise own caseload independently, using locally and nationally identified prioritisation systems.
*To manage and prioritise own workload, demonstrating an ability to be flexible in day-to-day operational activity, including being responsive to unpredictable work patterns, deadlines and frequent interruptions.
*To contribute to interagency / multi-disciplinary team building, developing effective working relationships with related agencies and colleagues.
*To demonstrate the ability to manage clients with behaviours that may be challenging, including the application of appropriate management strategies, and to manage the emotional consequences in self and others of working with clients with distressing conditions.
*To ensure practice is evidence-based where possible and is based on national Speech & Language Therapy clinical guidelines for learning disability services (RCSLT Position Paper, 2023).
Communication
*To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team and other agencies to deliver a coordinated service. This will include case conferences, reviews, clinical team meetings and business planning meetings.
*To exercise a highly proficient level of specialist communication with adults with learning disabilities and mental illness, who present with barriers to understanding and / or articulating their needs to others.
*Informed consent is obtained where appropriate and documented in accordance with Trust procedures.
*Promote Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as a centre of excellence through effective communication, both internally and externally.
Administration
To ensure appropriate cover for clinical caseload duties by effective team collaboration and to delegate tasks effectively within the clinical environment, whilst retaining the professional responsibility of appropriate delegation.
*To be responsible for the ordering, maintaining and organisation of equipment necessary for assessment and treatment.
*Make accurate records of work undertaken to comply with Trust and PILDS service requirements for documentation and activity monitoring. Contribute to and complete as appropriate relevant statistical data concerning service users, Speech and Langauge Therapy work and projects.
Knowledge, Education and Training
*To contribute to formal and informal teaching and training, both within the profession and with other professionals, services and voluntary groups. Adapting content appropriately to the needs of audiences and reflecting on and evaluating training provided.
*To assist with the identification of training needs within the SLT team and wider multi-disciplinary team.
*To participate in clinical supervision of Speech & Language Therapy students.
*To provide mentoring to more junior Speech and Language Therapists.
*To explain the role of Speech & Language Therapists to visitors, students, volunteers and members of the public.
*To demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice with peers and mentors and identify own strengths and development needs.
Management and Leadership
Responsibility for ensuring that:
*Standards of work are maintained and Trust policies for the management of staff performance are adhered to.
*Full compliance with Trust clinical governance requirements.
*Appropriate risk and other assessments are completed and documented in a timely manner in accordance with Trust policies.
*Ensuring completion of appropriate health and safety and other mandatory training as prescribed and that relevant records are maintained.
*All records are maintained ensuring compliance with agreed Trust record keeping systems.
*Informed consent is obtained where appropriate and documented in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.
*New and replacement equipment is not used until it has been commissioned in accordance with Trust policy.
*Equipment is maintained in accordance with Trust policy.
*Defective equipment is reported and made safe without delay in accordance with Trust procedures.
*Infection prevention and control procedures are followed by all staff within their area of responsibility.
*To supervise the work of Speech & Language Therapy Assistants, volunteers and other relevant staff supporting SLT and team as appropriate.
*To receive any initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible, and responding in line with Trust policies.
*To contribute to the development of innovative practice in areas of risk management, quality standards and clinical effectiveness.
*To participate in clinical governance, audit projects and departmental research within local service, and to contribute to writing and implementation of action plans and other relevant administration as required.
*To reflect on and suggest relevant service and policy developments as appropriate.
Quality and Service Improvement
*Identifies situations of clinical risk and takes appropriate action to ensure a safe environment for service users, clients, families, support networks and colleagues.
*Contributes to evidence-based practice.
*Provides input into clinical standards, protocols and policies and undertakes clinical audits as required.
*Evaluates the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of clinical practice contributing to service improvement initiatives.
Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached.
*Familiarity with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and maintains MCA mandatory training. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.
We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.
