Specialist Children’s Speech & Language Therapist - Band 6

The post holder will provide an evidence-based service that anticipates and responds to the needs of children with speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. They will work in partnership with children and their families and with other professions and agencies to reduce the impact of these difficulties on children’s social and emotional development, learning and daily participation.

Main duties of the job:

• To be responsible for the management of a caseload of children with a range of speech, language and communication difficulties.
• To provide support to children with a range of speech, language and communication needs under supervision from more specialist and senior team members.
• To assess, diagnose, treat and manage a caseload of children with a range of speech language and communication difficulties.
• To provide support and training to families and education/nursery staff as needed to enable SLT programmes to be implemented as part of children’s therapy package.
• To be involved in the development of the SLT service including pathways to support therapy delivery from preschool into primary aged placements.
• To be accountable for own professional action and recognize own professional boundaries, seeking advice as appropriate.
• To work across agreed clinical populations; to manage the implementation of a service that is targeted to need; to improve health and life chance outcomes for children by giving every child the opportunity to develop their potential.

Working for our organisation:

• To demonstrate a well developed knowledge of paediatric therapy for both eating and drinking and communication skills, underpinned by current evidence based practice.
• To manage a specialist and highly complex clinical caseload as an autonomous practitioner.
• To use and demonstrate highly specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision making for complex case management and advise others, often in the absence of robust evidence base.
• To make appropriate differential diagnoses and highly specialist clinical decisions based on assessment findings.
• To contribute to and coordinate applications for AAC devices including funding requests where appropriate.
• To work in partnership with the education SLTs to research and implement the use of AAC devices within school.
• To develop clear care plans and pathways based on best practice and update them according to departmental standards.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• To assess, develop and implement Specialist Speech and Language Therapy treatment.
• To demonstrate a well developed knowledge of paediatric therapy, underpinned by current evidence based practice.
• To manage a caseload including more complex needs independently, prioritising own workload.
• To develop skills in motivating clients, carers, families and the multidisciplinary team to engage with the therapeutic process.
• To reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of a client’s communication and identify strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness.
• To use specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision making for case management.
• To write reports reflecting specialist knowledge according to departmental standards.

Person specification:

• Professional Registration
• 6 Months Experience

Our mission: “To put the patient first by delivering great care to every patient, every day.” There’s never been a better time to join the Epsom and St Helier team. Our hospitals offer staff benefits and dedicated training schemes. We also offer the London high cost area supplement and are located in accessible areas.

Please note that this position may close earlier than the stated closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received. If you wish to apply for this position, please submit your application as soon as possible. Please note we contact all applicants via email and not by post. Check your recruitment system account on our website.

For new entrants into the NHS, pay under Agenda for Change or Medical & Dental Pay Bands will normally be set at the minimum of the pay band as advertised. If you apply for this position and do not hear from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume you have not been short-listed for interview on this occasion.

ESTH values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities. As a Disability Confident Employer we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to a greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Internal applicants from underrepresented minority groups are encouraged to seek development support such as work shadowing and interview skills coaching. Please contact the recruitment team for more information.

You must have appropriate UK professional registration. 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.