Team Lead/ Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in Leigh

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the adult community speech and language therapy team based at Leigh Town Hall. This is a permanent full-time post, however consideration will be given for part-time hours for the right candidate. The team provides speech and language therapy assessment and intervention to adults in care homes, outpatient clinics, patient homes, community settings and virtually via NHS Attend Anywhere. The successful candidate will join the innovative and supportive community speech and language therapy team as the team lead. There will be opportunities to develop leadership skills and the successful candidate will have access to support from the wider speech and language therapy clinical leads across the trust. There will be opportunities to develop clinical skills in instrumental swallow assessment including fibre optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and videofluoroscopy. Evidence-based practice is embedded within the team with a strong focus on clinical effectiveness.

Main duties of the job

• To provide highly specialist assessment, diagnosis and advice on intervention approaches consistent with professional standards to adults with speech language communication needs.
• To demonstrate highly specialist skills and knowledge in dysphagia, FEEs and Videofluoroscopy as applicable to the client groups accessing the service.
• To work independently accessing supervision and CPD to maintain highly specialist skills and competencies.
• To work in partnership with stakeholders, e.g. education, other health and social care professionals to ensure positive outcomes for patients and carers.
• To develop, deliver and evaluate teaching/training programmes/training in specialist area to a range of audiences.
• To contribute to service improvement and quality assurance of practice in the identified specialist area in collaboration with the clinical teams.
• To be actively involved with supervision/mentorship within clinical teams and to offer Speech and Language Therapy student placements.

Working for our organisation

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values. People at the Heart Listen and Involve Kind and Respectful. WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. We are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs. At WWL we value the benefits a rich and diverse workforce brings to our community and therefore welcome applications from all sections of society.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To act as team lead for the community speech and language therapy team including speech and language therapists working with adults with learning disabilities.
• To be recognised as a highly specialist practitioner in the field of complex adult acquired communication/swallowing disorders with patients in the community.
• To effectively examine and assess complex and highly complex patients, identify their problems and needs and ensure that the patients’ medical, cognitive, psychological, social, spiritual, environmental and cultural factors are taken into account.
• To continue to develop the community speech and language therapy service in new initiatives using evidence-based practice.
• To utilise examination and assessment findings to develop and implement highly specialist programmes of treatment, underpinned by evidence-based practice.
• To be able to relate assessment results to the presenting disease/pathology/impairment.
• To set appropriate treatments aims and objectives in negotiation with patient and/or carer wherever possible, incorporating risk factors, safety, patient choice and ability and independence.
• To contribute to multi-professional patient goal setting.
• To provide highly specialist advice and training to others regarding their management and care of patients with complex communication and swallowing problems (others include wider speech and language therapy team, relatives, carers and professionals in a statutory and voluntary sector).
• To monitor and evaluate episodes of care to facilitate achievement of goals against outcomes.
• To produce, disseminate and update reports/guidelines regarding individual care plans to patients, carers and other professionals.
• To develop the role of the highly specialist speech and language therapy role with all local care providers, ensuring seamless provision of care that meets the needs of patients.
• To effectively manage and prioritise own clinical caseload with the varied demands of the role, i.e. teaching, research and management.
• To be actively involved in the recruitment and induction of staff within the team.
• To attend and actively participate in relevant meetings at a local and regional level.
• To use highly specialist clinical reasoning skills to assimilate information, some of which may be conflicting, taking into account cognitive, emotional, environmental, cultural and social issues, in order to make a clinical judgment regarding differential diagnosis and intervention, seeking advice as appropriate.
• To judge the need for objective assessment and select the appropriate methods to assess the patient in adequate detail including videofluoroscopy and FEES.
• To interpret investigation results and communicate the information to relevant parties.
• To act as lead clinician within a videofluoroscopy clinic - undertaking the procedure alongside radiology, analysing and interpreting results and communicating this information to the relevant parties.
• To collate information from a range of professionals and carers and the patient.
• To produce clear care plans based on assessment and best practice, using specialist knowledge.
• To demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice independently and with peers/managers and to recognise own strengths and development needs.
• To demonstrate the ability to reflect on patients learning style and optimum mode of communication, taking into account learning, sensory and physical abilities.
• To recognise potential conflict/breakdown when it occurs and to seek advice and support resolve.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy degree or equivalent.
• Health Care Professions Council – Licence to Practice.
• Registered member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Evidence of successful completion of specialist courses up to master’s level equivalent.

Experience

• Substantial experience at specialist level.
• Experience of developing and delivering training.
• Experience of supervising junior staff.
• Experience of service improvement.
• Experience in assessment and intervention utilising AAC.

Skills

• Highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills.
• Competencies in videofluoroscopy.
• Proven ability to work independently.
• Leading Videofluoroscopy Clinic.
• Competency on undertaking/interpreting fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES).
• Adjunctive skills in bedside assessment e.g. cervical auscultation.

Knowledge

• In-depth knowledge of national policies and procedures (relevant to the specialist client group).
• In-depth knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions (relevant to the client group) and an ability to compare and contrast relative benefits.
• Knowledge of standards of record keeping.

Additional

• Able to travel across Trust independently.
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation.
• Able to work flexibly.