At a Glance
- Tasks: Join a dynamic team to assess and treat voice disorders and dysphagia.
- Company: County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, a leading integrated care provider.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, professional development, and supportive team environment.
- Other info: Opportunity for career growth and collaboration with experienced professionals.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in patients' lives with innovative therapies and cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Degree in Speech and Language Therapy and HCPC registration required.
The predicted salary is between 49387 - 56515 £ per year.
- County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
- Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
- The closing date is 31 July 2026
This is a rare and exciting opportunity to take up a highly specialist voice and dysphagia post.
We can offer you a challenging/rewarding job that includes
- Joint ENT/SLT voice clinics with up to date technology
- Regular joint ENT/SLT meetings
- SLT-led VLE clinics
- Well-resourced specialist voice equipment, books and resources including new SLT stack/chip
- Voice peer support groups with dedicated team of voice therapist colleagues
- Attendance at Voice CEN encouraged
- Clinical supervision with senior experienced voice therapist
- Opportunity for CPD
- In-service training
- Online access for daily voice triage
- Clinical supervision and support from ENT and Clinical Psychology
- Monthly staff meetings
- Regular line management supervision and support from SLT professional lead
- Good IT access/mobile-working laptop for out-patient clinics
- Central appointment booking team
- SLT assistant support for groups and clinics
Note: This position requires a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check.
Main duties of the job
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest integrated care providers in England, serving a population of around 600,000 people.
We are a high performing organization with a track record of success.
We are looking for an experienced, motivated Speech and Language Therapist with skills in voice and dysphagia to offer voice assessment and therapy as part of our innovative voice and dysphagia team for County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust.
The post-holder will be based at Darlington Memorial Hospital.
The role involves hospital-based out-patient sessions assessing and treating patients with voice disorders as well as working with our ENT colleagues to deliver best-practice care.
Voice therapy packages are delivered on a 1:1 or group basis with the flexibility of virtual appointments where appropriate for patients.
There is also the opportunity to work with a small caseload of complex community dysphagic caseload.
Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will hold a degree in Speech and Language Therapy and be registered with the Health Professionals Council.
You will have significant post-graduate experience of working with adults with voice disorders and dysphagia and have a passion for service development.
We will provide professional development opportunities to enable career development with peer support and clinical supervision from Clinical Leads and Highly Specialist Staff.
You will be committed to multi-disciplinary working, continuing professional development of higher level voice competencies and be in possession of excellent communication and prioritisation skills.
Experience in video laryngeal endoscopy and joint SLT/ENT clinics would be highly desirable.
The Speech and Language Therapy Service is comprised of a proactive team of experienced colleagues allowing ready-access to support, second opinions and ongoing peer supervision to deliver evidence-based practice assessment and therapy to patients.
You will help supervise more junior staff and speech and language therapy students as well as contribute to the delivery of teaching programmes to medical students and a range of professionals enhancing patient care.
Person Specification
- Special Skills & Knowledge
- Ability to make judgments involving complex facts or situations, which require the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.
- Planning and organisational skills applicable to advising on the formulation of long-term strategic plans relating to the specialist area, which involve uncertainty.
- Highly developed physical skills (precision, speed, hand/eye/sensory coordination) to perform real-time phonemic and phonetic transcriptions.
- High-level interpersonal and communication skills: persuasion, negotiation, training, empathy and reassurance.
- Ability to communicate highly complex, sensitive, contentious information where there may be barriers to overcome.
- Special Requirements
- Commitment to developing own clinical and non-clinical expertise.
- To keep up to date with current clinical and technical advances and relevant management practices; to be advised of same by peers and more senior clinicians within the Trust.
- Able to travel independently within the Foundation Trust area / Car Owner / Car Driver.
- Able to travel independently countywide.
- Statutory Registration
- HCPC registration
- RCSLT member
Qualifications
- Speech and Language Therapy Degree or equivalent as recognised by RCSLT
- Health professionals Council Licence to Practice
- Evidence of successful completion of highly specialist courses up to Masters Degree Equivalent
- Knowledge and understanding of national and local Health/Education/Social care policies and practices
- Highly developed specialist knowledge across a range of work procedures and practices relating to the identification, definition, diagnosis, and remediation of voice and dysphagia disorders including a post-basic dysphagia qualification or equivalent
- VLE/FEES trained
- Experience of Joint SLT/ENT clinics
Experience
- Highly specialist experience at post-graduate level in voice/dysphagia specialist/lead area.
- At least 2 years working as a Speech and Language Therapist in specialist area.
- 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.
Salary
£49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum, pro rata.
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Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist employer: CDDFT Charity
At County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, we pride ourselves on being an excellent employer, offering a supportive and collaborative work environment for our Specialty Doctor in Elderly Care. Our commitment to professional development is evident through ongoing training opportunities, mentorship, and involvement in innovative service projects that enhance patient care. Located in a vibrant community, we foster a culture of inclusivity and diversity, welcoming applications from all backgrounds to enrich our team and improve healthcare outcomes for older patients.
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We think this is how you could land Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
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We think you need these skills to ace Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
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Tailor Your Documents to the Job:Don't use a one-size-fits-all approach! Make sure your CV and cover letter are specifically tailored for this role. Highlight any certifications you have relevant to health administration, and ensure you clearly connect your previous roles to the skills needed for the full-time position at CDDFT Charity. This way, you're showing them you’ve done your homework and are genuinely interested in being a part of their team.
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