Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in Burton upon Trent

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together.

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work. With over 14,000 members of staff you can expect huge variety and new opportunities every day! Our staff go above and beyond and take pride in caring for our patients.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is fully committed to promoting inclusion, equality, diversity and human rights in employment and delivery of its services. The Trust is committed to providing an environment where all employees, patients, carers and visitors experience equality of opportunity by means of understanding and appreciating the value of diversity.

As a Trust we promote an inclusive environment and welcome applications from a diverse pool of talent and backgrounds. All individuals are valued and given every opportunity to succeed based on merit. The Trust actively encourages applications from members of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. These groups are under-represented in our organisation, and it’s important to us that our workforce reflects the diversity of our communities as much as possible.

Armed Forces and Disability Confident guaranteed interview scheme: To further support the pledges in the Armed Forces Covenant and to make a positive contribution to support ex-armed forces personnel (veterans) make the transition to civilian life, the Trust has introduced a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for veterans who meet the essential criteria set out in the person specification, to help them overcome barriers to find civilian employment. The scheme will operate for all external recruitment. The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer and committed to both employing and retaining people with disabilities. This commitment is to guarantee an interview for any candidate that has disclosed a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification. Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 will be considered upon request.

Job overview: We are looking for an experienced Speech and Language Therapist for a part-time role (3 days per week) for the acute wards at Queen's Hospital, Burton and the D2A wards at Samuel Johnson (Lichfield) and Sir Robert Peel (Tamworth) community hospitals. The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual, working with a small friendly team and the wider MDT. We strongly support CPD, supervision and clinical governance via robust appraisal and objective setting. There may be scope to increase hours in future, if interested.

Main duties of the job: The post holder will be able to demonstrate an ability to work under pressure in a busy acute DGH site and work within the D2A pathway for a variety of patients transferred to community sites. Liaison will be required with other local services for discharge or any required return to acute services. The caseload consists of a variety of diagnoses, including stroke, frailty, dementia and progressive neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. Patients require assessment and management of communication difficulties and/or dysphagia. The post holder will lead on the development and delivery of training and professional mentorship to the team and wider MDT. The post holder will be responsible for providing highly specialist Speech and Language Therapy assessment, formulation, diagnosis and management, requiring advanced clinical reasoning, reflection, interpretation, and analysis. The post holder will understand and adhere to relevant pathways and protocols in both the acute and community hospital settings. The post holder will lead on training, such as updates on IDDSI and supporting communication difficulties. The post holder will support and mentor junior SALT staff and students.

Working for our organisation: In return we will offer development opportunities, both professional and leadership development, ongoing support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond. Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes.

Key Facts: We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day. We are the 4th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England – an average of 2077 per week. An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day – 3rd largest in the country. Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily. Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres. We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres. We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day. UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities: Please see attached Job description and Person Specification. To apply please click APPLY FOR THIS JOB – this link will take you to the TRAC Recruitment Site. You will need to register if you do not already have an account. Your application (for shortlisting purposes) is assessed based on the Person Specification in the job advert.

Person specification: Qualifications: Recognised relevant Speech and Language Therapy degree qualification, HCPC registration, RCSLT registration, significant post-graduate experience in acute and/or community hospital settings, working with Stroke, frailty, dementia and progressive neurological disorders. Completion of additional training courses and application of skills learned, working at highly specialist level. Experience: Substantive post-graduate experience, working autonomously at a highly specialist level with adults who have dysphagia and communication difficulties. Experience of evaluation in evidence-based practice and audit. Experience of service planning and development. Experience of supporting and mentoring staff, working within an MDT and with multiple agencies. Skilled in delivering training to a wide range of people. Advanced post-graduate training and competency in dysphagia management, including instrumental assessments, such as FEES and VFSS, tracheostomy. Skills: Proven ability in leadership and effectiveness as a team member. Highly developed negotiation and influencing skills, used with a range of other people/groups. Able to demonstrate application of ongoing in-depth learning and experience to clinical practice. Excellent organisational skills, including prioritisation of both clinical and non-clinical tasks, setting up training sessions, producing educational materials etc. Other: Able to travel across sites as service demands require.

Our Trust aims to provide the highest quality care to patients within Derbyshire and South East Staffordshire and we want the very best people to work with us.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If we receive a high number of applications for this position we reserve the right to withdraw the post before the closing date, therefore it is advisable that you apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment. At UHDB, we offer different ways to work flexibly to each and every one of our colleagues, many of whom already work flexibly at all sites of the Trust. For our roles we are open to discussing the possibility of part-time/ reduced hours/ compressed hours/ flexible start and finish times/ fixed/flexible shifts/annualised hours/ term time hours/ hybrid working – working partly in the trust/partly at home. Why don’t you talk to us at interview about the flexibility you would like to explore and what it means to you, and we will discuss what’s possible for the job and team, and the opportunities we might be able to create together. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise to work with you to look at all the available options.