Adult Speech and Language Therapy Assistant Practitioner

Main area: Adult Community Speech and Language Therapy

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 4

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Part time - 30 hours per week

Job ref: 846-7113322-UJ-A

Employer: Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Site: St Stephen's HC in Ashford Town, Ashford

Salary: £26,530 - £29,114 pro rata per annum

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 25/06/2025 23:59

Job overview:

Join our friendly team as an Adult Speech and Language Therapy Assistant Practitioner. One part time band 4 post available, 30 hours per week (0.8 wte). We may consider appointing at band 3 as a development post. Working in our Ashford South Kent team based at St. Stephen’s Health Centre, Ashford, covering Folkestone/Hythe/Romney Marsh/Ashford.

We’re looking for someone who is passionate about helping adults with communication and swallowing difficulties. You’ll be working closely with our friendly, supportive team of Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) in a community setting, providing high-quality care to our adult patients in east Kent.

If you tick these boxes then this could be the perfect opportunity for you:

• Have experience (or a keen interest) in working with adults who have swallowing and/or communication challenges
• Are a great communicator (both speaking and listening, non-verbal too)
• Are organised and able to manage your own workload, but also love working as part of a team
• Have at least 18 months of experience in healthcare or education, including a year working in the community

A few things to know:

• Car Owner/Driver: You’ll need to be able to travel across different areas, so having a car is a must.
• Training & Development: If you don’t have the essential experience that we’re asking for this role, it may not be an automatic barrier to being offered an interview. We may consider offering the role at a Band 3 level whilst you work on achieving the required competencies.
• Working pattern: Working pattern can be over 4 or 5 days in a pattern that works for you and the service. You would be at base in Ashford several times per week as a minimum but would not necessarily start and end each day there.

Main duties of the job:

• Carrying out communication therapy with individuals and groups.
• Helping patients to effectively use low- and high-tech communication aids through preparing and programming the aids and supporting the patient and their family/carers in their use.
• Triaging of care home patients on our electronic record system and supporting the SLTs with some admin tasks.
• Carrying out telephone and in person reviews of patients’ swallowing and implementing strategies to help them eat and drink safely.

In this role, you’ll get to take initiative, manage your day-to-day tasks independently, and receive regular support and guidance from our registered SLTs. You’ll also be part of a wider team of therapy assistants across East and West Kent.

We really value motivated, creative problem-solvers and are excited to offer the right person the chance to grow with us in this fulfilling role.

Working for our organisation:

Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’ve got a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values: compassionate, aspirational, responsive, excellent.

We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.

We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability.

The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit us both.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

Job responsibilities:

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. As such you will be asked to confirm you have a full UK driving licence where driving is a requirement of the role to be able to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment; if you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you; their contact details can be found in the job advert. We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community difference here.

Good luck! We can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

Person specification:

Qualifications:

• Evidence of Foundation Degree Level study (Level 5) or equivalent experience
• Functional Skills at Level 2 (Literacy and numeracy/ GCSE grade A-C or equivalent in English and Maths)

Experience:

• Minimum of 18 months experience working within a healthcare or education setting of which 1 years’ experience is within a community setting
• Experience of working as part of a team
• Experience of communicating with and supporting people with communication difficulties.
• Experience of supporting people with dysphagia

Skills:

• Good IT skills and experience with the use of Microsoft Office and a variety of IT packages (E-Pay / E-roster/ TAPS / Rio)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (verbal and written)
• Ability to organise and prioritise own work, manage own time and use own initiative

Knowledge:

• Understands the role and remit of a band 4 Assistant Practitioner

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.