Children's Speech and Language Therapist in Wigan

Job Board

Companies

Wwl

Children's Speech and Language Therapist

Children's Speech and Language Therapist in Wigan

Wigan Full-Time On-site

Apply Now

Children's Speech and Language Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 5

Main area Paediatric Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Permanent Hours

Part time
Flexible working

35 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Job ref 302-26-8321332S-MCFW

Site Platt Bridge Health Centre, Rivington Avenue, Platt Bridge, Wigan, WN2 5NG Town Wigan Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 27/10/2026 23:59

People at the Heart. One Team. Your Career at WWL.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a qualified and HCPC registered Band 5 Children's Speech and Language Therapist to join our innovative Children's Speech and Language Therapy Team in Wigan. The role will suit a newly qualified practitioner or a therapist with more experience.

NHS experience is essential (whether on placement or via employment)

This vacancy may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Main duties of the job

Assess and diagnose children’s speech, language and communication needs with a varied range of clinical presentations including children with special educational needs and agree functional goals for the child with relevant parties as appropriate.
Use evidence based practice to support parents and the wider children’s workforce to develop children’s speech, language and communication skills in an inclusive environment.

Working for our organisation

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is proud to provide high‑quality acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, our staff are central to everything we do — we believe that happy staff make for happy patients, and this ethos underpins our culture and our success.

We have a strong, recognised track record in staff engagement and in living our values:

People at the Heart
Listen and Involve
Kind and Respectful
ONE Team

We are committed to placing patients at the heart of every decision and delivering safe, effective care that protects dignity and enhances experience. We seek to recruit people who share our values, our passion for high‑quality care, and our belief in working together as One Team.

At WWL, we recognise the strength that comes from a rich and diverse workforce. We welcome applications from all sections of society and are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To assess and diagnose children with communication disorders, including those with special needs
To develop and implement Speech and Language Therapy treatment and to evaluate outcomes
To take clinical responsibility for a varied paediatric caseload of differing complexities and to organise this effectively with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
To ensure that clients are involved in the planning and prioritisation of their treatment plans wherever possible.
To provide advice and coaching to others regarding the management and care of clients with communication difficulties
To demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and outcome measures
To produce reports regarding client’s needs and summarising proposed care plans
To contribute to legal documents such as Education Health and care Plans, Individual Education Plans and Annual Reviews
To adapt practice to meet individual client’s circumstances, including due regard for cultural and linguistic differences
To maintain up to date and accurate case notes in line with RCSLT professional standards and local trust policies
To identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness of communication, both verbal, non‑verbal and environmental
To assess and advise on optimising the client’s communicative environment, taking into consideration the communication skills of carers and other professionals
To assess the capacity of the child or young person to give valid, informed consent. To be able to work within a legal framework with children and parents for consent to treatment.
To use highly developed auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment diagnosis and treatment of clients.
To discharge appropriately, agreeing a point of closure with the clients and carers and informing other professionals
To identify personal / professional development by Personal Development Plan /Professional Portfolio developed within an appraisal framework.
To attend relevant training and development in order to maintain and develop skills and knowledge required of a generalist therapist and maintain up to date HCPC and RCSLT registration.
To demonstrate knowledge of, and adhere to RCSLT Professional and Local Clinical Guidelines.
To attend relevant courses, in service training, meetings and clinical excellence networks.

Planning and Organisational Duties

To be aware of and adhere to service plans and policies
To manage and prioritise own workload.
To be accountable for own professional action and recognise own professional boundaries, seeking advice as appropriate
To manage and prioritise own caseload independently in conjunction with senior SLT staff
To demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice with peers/clinical supervisor and to identify own strengths and development needs.
To demonstrate the ability to integrate information taking account of all aspects of the client’s communication including verbal, non verbal and environmental
To make appropriate clinical decisions following assessment, seeking support and advice from a supervisor as appropriate
To make a differential diagnosis on the basis of evidence from assessment seeking advice as appropriate

Communications and Key Working Relationships

To share information with clients, carers and other professionals, observing data protection guidelines
To contribute to multi and uni-disciplinary teams to ensure a client focused approach to treatment
To communicate complex information from assessment and treatment to clients, carers and other professionals
To communicate effectively with the child or young person and their carers to maximise treatment potential and ensure understanding of their condition. Addressing physical, psychological and emotional barriers to effective communication will be regularly required.
To work closely with clients, carers and other professionals to negotiate and agree client management
To demonstrate empathy with clients, carers and colleagues, ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where significant barriers to understanding exist
To respond sensitively at all times particularly when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the clinical difficulties and their implications
To motivate clients, carers and other professionals to engage in the therapeutic process
To use negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations
To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible, in line with Trust policy.
To foster productive relationships with others who have challenging communication difficulties and may be under stress
To supervise the work of assistants
To participate in student placements as appropriate.

Responsibility for Health & Safety

Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Responsibility for Teaching

To participate in the development and delivery of training to others with support.
To target training appropriately to the needs of course participants.
Reflect on and evaluate training provided

Person specification

Knowledge

Knowledge of EYFS and SEND Code of Practice
Knowledge of assessment tools relevant to the client group
Knowledge of national policies and procedures (relevant to the client group)
Well established knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions (relevant to the client group)
Understanding of the roles of other professionals
Knowledge of standards of record keeping

Skills

Excellent interpersonal skills – including observation, listening and empathy skills
Negotiation and problem solving skills
Demonstrates good analytical and reflection skills
Good presentation skills, both written and verbal
Good organisational skills
Good auditory skills and ability to transcribe speech phonetically
Demonstrates ability to work well in a team

Experience

Relevant knowledge / experience with a range of paediatric speech, language and communication difficulties including children with SEN
Knowledge or experience of a range of assessment tools / therapeutic interventions
Experience in coaching/ training other professionals / parents
Experience working in collaboration with parents and professionals, sharing strategies and providing advice to support children in settings
NHS experience

Qualifications

Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or Equivalent
Health Care Professions Council registration.

Using AI when writing job applications
If you choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting statement to reflect the skills and experience to match your job application. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting statement is not advocated by Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as it could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process. Please refer to the attached "Applying for a role in the NHS guidance" for further information regarding the use of AI.

The Trust reserves the right to close adverts earlier than the stated closing date if there is a high volume of applications.

We endeavour to inform all applicants of the outcome of their application by email or SMS text message.

Guidance on Completing Your Application

Applications are assessed against the person specification. We strongly encourage you to use the supporting information section to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable criteria, providing clear examples where possible.

On-Call

Please note that some roles may require participation in an on‑call rota, particularly those that are operational in nature.

WWL is part of the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. We recognise continuous or ‘unbroken’ service from any Greater Manchester Local Authority, NHS organisation, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. This ensures access to our service‑related benefits.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

#J-18808-Ljbffr