Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Job responsibilities

To act in a highly specialist lead role within the Merton Complex Needs Team in dysphagia and other clinical specialities e.g. ASD, Hearing Impairment, Neurodevelopmental Disorders

To act in a highly specialist role within Perseid Special School addressing communication needs in the nursery population and dysphagia needs across the whole school

To assess for mid and hi tech AAC device suitability for identified children within the special school population and refer on to specialist services as appropriate

To manage and prioritise a defined caseload/workload independently in the community and the special school

To manage a specialist caseload of children within overall caseload independently in the community and special school

To monitor and evaluate own highly specialist service delivery and provide progress reports

To be accountable for own professional actions and recognise own professional boundaries

To work within defined specialist, departmental and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct as outlined in Communicating Quality III (RCSLT)

To interpret clinical guidelines and adapt to local service needs on the basis of specialist clinical knowledge

To work independently accessing appraisal within an Individual Performance Framework at pre-determined intervals for self and team

To assess the need for, develop and implement Speech and Language Therapy treatment to children referred to the complex needs service and special school service, presenting with a wide range of complexcommunication needs including dysphagia

To provide additional specialist intervention and support to children within one or more specific clinical areas e.g. Dysphagia, Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) approaches and to evaluate outcomesusing formal and informal specific assessment tools

To deliver a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapy service consisting of evaluation of interventions for complex and difficult cases such as tribunals as required

To analyse auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of childrens communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness in the home, school and other relevant settings

To monitor all aspects of parent / carer/ adult interactions with children. In particular, to simultaneously monitor auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of dyadic interactions, encouraging adaptive strategies to maximise effective communication

To monitor all aspects of parent/teacher/support worker meal time interactions with children and young people. In particular how eating and drinking passport advice is being followed and implemented across allenvironments.

To ensure that children families and carers are involved in planning and prioritisation of their eating and drinking passports/goals wherever possible.

To make appropriate clinical decisions following assessment, using evidence based practice and outcome measurement to provide the most effective treatment to children and their families within clearly defined careplans

To make a differential diagnosis on the basis of evidence from assessment

To adapt practice to meet individual childrens and families circumstances, including due regard for specific clinical conditions affecting their speech and language, cognitive, cultural, religious and linguistic differences

To ensure that children, families and carers are involved in the planning and prioritisation of their care plans and outcomes wherever possible

To demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and outcome measures relevant to the field, in particular in the field(s) of specialisation

Please refer to the attached Job Description for full list of responsibilities.

As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against COVID-19.

Education/Qualification

Essential

• Degree or equivalent and Licence to Practice - Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Current registered membership of HCPC and RCSLT
• Further study to Masters or equivalent level in clinical field, including completion of short courses and additional study
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Successful completion of specialist post-graduate dysphagia study relevant to the community setting (e.g. accredited dysphagia course).
• Demonstrates knowledge of HCPC code of ethics and professional conduct
• Good understanding of clinical governance principles

Experience

Essential

• Work with children with a wide range of speech, language and communication difficulties including those associated with complex needs and/ or feeding difficulties
• Collaborative work with parents and other professionals, across settings
• Training others
• Supervising and/or supporting others
• Postgraduate experience of working with children
• Dysphagia experience - ideally at the specialist level
• At least five years post-qualification experience working within relevant fields
• Experience in assessment and interventions of feeding difficulties in children aged 6 months - 19 years demonstrating the evidence base for these approaches
• Clinical experience within the NHS
• Working with children/families from multi-cultural/multi-lingual backgrounds and working with interpreters
• Experience in supervision of SLTs and students

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Good clinical skills/specialist knowledge across a wide range of dysphagia and communication difficulties
• Evidence of use of initiative and ability to maintain judgement under pressure
• Advanced knowledge of appropriate range of communication assessments and interventions for preschool children and an ability to compare and contrast relative benefits to individual children
• Normal Child Development of Speech & Language and general developmental milestones
• Religious, Cultural and Linguistic issues impacting upon caseload management
• Principles and models of Adult-Child Interaction
• In-depth knowledge of national policies and procedures (including Code of Practice)
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance /audit
• Understanding of the roles of other professionals (relevant to the client group) especially within MDT
• Knowledge of professional standards of record keeping
• Holistic view of communication and philosophy to back this
• Knowledge of service models to Education
• Skills in delivering presentations and training including basic adaptations to presentation/training style for a range of audiences.
• The ability to convey complex sensitive information
• Good organisational and prioritisation skills
• Ability to lone work
• Working knowledge of IT

Other

Essential

• Ability to deal with and resolve conflict
• Sensitivity to others' differing needs
• Excellent interpersonal skills - including observation, listening and empathy skills
• Highly developed Negotiation and Problem solving Skills
• Demonstrates excellent analytical and reflection skills
• Well-developed concentration skills
• Excellent presentation skills, both written and verbal, including report writing skills
• Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills
• Good auditory discrimination skills and ability to transcribe speech phonetically
• Demonstrates ability to be a good team member
• Manual dexterity sufficient to carry out physical swallowing assessment and use high and low tech assessment equipment
• IT literate and able to use a range of specialist programmes
• Manual dexterity for signing
• Committed to personal and team development
• Able to work well with and through others
• Clear vision of role/commitment to specialty
• Commitment to personal CPD
• A desire to implement research/evidence based practice
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills especially with medical, other HCPs, Social Care and Educational Staff
• Good teaching skills
• The physical capabilities to manage and position infants and children for optimum feeding
• The ability to work as part of an MDT

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).