Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist | Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in Colchester

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) is seeking an experienced and motivated Band 7 Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist to join our mental health services and play a key role in developing high-quality, person-centred care across Adult Mental Health, Older Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services and CAMHS. This is an exciting opportunity to lead and influence specialist Speech and Language Therapy provision within multidisciplinary teams, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

At EPUT, we are committed to investing in our workforce and developing future clinical leaders. As a Clinical Lead, you will have the opportunity to shape service delivery, drive innovation, contribute to workforce development and support the education and supervision of students and colleagues. Working within a supportive and forward-thinking organisation, you will help build the profile of Speech and Language Therapy within mental health services while contributing to our ambition to attract, develop and retain a highly skilled workforce.

If you are passionate about advancing Speech and Language Therapy within mental health care and want to make a lasting difference to the lives of children, young people, adults and older adults, EPUT offers an outstanding opportunity to develop your career within a values-driven organisation that puts patient care, staff wellbeing and professional development at its heart.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide expert clinical leadership for Speech and Language Therapy services, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, person-centred care.
• Lead on and undertake highly specialist clinical work comprising of assessment, diagnosis and management of complex communication, cognitive-communication and swallowing difficulties.
• Act as the senior Speech and Language Therapy resource within the multidisciplinary team, providing specialist advice, training, supervision and support.
• Ensure Speech and Language Therapy practice contributes to safe, effective, recovery-focused and least restrictive care.
• Develop and embed communication-inclusive approaches that improve access to mental health treatment.
• Lead on quality improvement, service evaluation, governance and innovation within the Speech and Language Therapy service.

Clinical Duties:

• Undertake highly specialised assessments and interventions using expert clinical reasoning for adults and adolescents with severe and enduring mental illness.
• Assess and manage speech, language and communication difficulties that affect engagement in psychiatric assessment and treatment planning.
• Provide specialist assessment and management of eating, drinking and Dysphasia associated with mental illness.
• Support MDTs to make reasonable adjustments for patients with communication difficulties.
• Lead on communication support strategies that enhance recovery and improve therapeutic engagement.
• Manage a complex caseload and communicate agreed treatment/care plans to multi-disciplinary team colleagues.
• Regularly review clients’ progress to evaluate and interpret the effectiveness of treatment plans.
• Undertake research and audit to develop and initiate evidence-based interventions.

Non-Clinical Duties:

• Provide professional leadership and clinical supervision for Speech and Language Therapists and students.
• Assume line management responsibility for Speech and Language Therapy staff.
• Provide consultation and specialist advice to multidisciplinary colleagues.
• Engage in audits, service evaluations, and quality improvement projects.
• Lead training programmes for multidisciplinary staff on communication needs and dysphagia.

In addition to the above duties, you will also be expected to perform key activities in line with your job role, including completing mandatory training and participating in the staff appraisal process.