Speech and Language Therapy- Senior Support Worker

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board. Please note that contact with applicants will usually be by email, and so please check all of your mail folders regularly (unfortunately some providers filter our messages into junk mail folders).

Our Values

• We are KIND
• We are OPEN
• We pursue EXCELLENCE

We are looking for applications from people who share our values to help make us a valued and trusted partner within our care system, that delivers safe effective care to our local population. People for Patients. Our People, our Patients, our Priority.

Job overview

The Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Team at York Hospital are looking to recruit a motivated, caring, and enthusiastic assistant with excellent communication skills, to work with patients with swallowing and communication disorders. We work with a diverse range of adult patients including those with stroke, dementia, neurological conditions, and frailty. As a Speech and Language Therapy Senior Support Worker, you would play a key part in making sure the patients can access the therapy and support they need. If you want to help us making a difference to the lives of our patients, we want to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

We work in a range of settings: Acute wards, rehabilitation units, outpatient clinics and in community. We also run specialist clinics in videofluoroscopy (an x-ray of swallowing). The day-to-day role of the support worker in SLT is incredibly varied and rewarding. You will be:

• Working directly with patients to deliver assessments and therapy, discuss goals, and run group sessions.
• Supporting SLTs to provide education to patients, families, and other healthcare workers about communication and swallowing disorders.
• Being responsible for creating high quality resources for patients, checking stock, ordering equipment, and a range of other activities.

No two days are ever the same! Our ideal candidate would be able to work proactively and efficiently, and would enjoy building rapport with patients and team members. Knowledge and experience of working in a healthcare setting would be beneficial but not essential, as you would be well supported by a team of therapists and administrative assistants to learn and grow within this role.

Working for our organisation

Our benefits

• Access to the NHS Pension Scheme, providing generous benefits upon retirement, as well as a lump sum and pension for dependants.
• 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service).
• A generous relocation package of up to 30% of salary (capped at £18k) to support with relocation expenses for hard to fill positions where relocation would be an expectation to undertake the role fully.
• A variety of different types of paid and unpaid leave covering emergency and planned leave.
• Confidential advice and support on personal, work, family and relationship issues, 24/7, from our Employee Assistance Programme.
• NHS Car Lease scheme and Cycle to Work scheme.
• An extensive range of learning and development opportunities.
• Discounts on restaurants, getaways, shopping, motoring, cinema and finance from a range of providers.

For further information on the fantastic range of benefits we offer please visit the Trust's dedicated Staff Benefits pages.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

A full description of the role is available in the attachment: job description. Please note that if a high number of applications are received this advert may close early. You are advised to submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

Working for the Trust

Across our organisation, people are guided by values that were co-developed with staff: we are kind; we are open; and we pursue excellence. Our values play into our ambition to develop a more diverse workforce, truly representative of our communities. We welcome applications from everyone, while working with our Staff Networks - including our Race Equality, LGBTQ+, Disability and Carers Networks - to increase the number of applications we receive from different backgrounds. If there is anything we can do to make our application process more accessible to you, please contact: yhs-tr.recruitment@nhs.net.

As part of seeking to become more inclusive, we will consider requests for flexible working from the start of your employment. It may not be suitable for every role, but we will try and be supportive where we can. We would encourage you to speak to the recruiting manager named within this advert to discuss any requirements you may have.

Armed Forces Friendly Employer

We are holders of the Gold Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which is helping actively promote SaBRE - Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employers. This means that we have made a statement of intent to support all Defence personnel, including with applications for employment.

Person specification

Qualifications

• A levels (3) or Level 3 national certificate or Level 3 diploma or Senior Healthcare support worker apprenticeship or Mathematics and English to Level 2: Functional Skills/GCSE Grade C.
• Proactively undertakes relevant specialist or departmental training in order to achieve required knowledge and competency for role.

Experience and knowledge

• Practical knowledge of role, including good understanding of role applied for.
• Experience of working within a team and with the general public.
• Practical awareness of issues affecting safety and risk.
• Experience of managing allocated tasks independently within own competency and taking responsibility for decision making.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working within a health/social care or educational environment.
• Awareness of needs of vulnerable groups including dementia, learning disabilities and others with protected characteristics.

Please note that some of our substantive vacancies may be available on a smaller number of hours than advertised. If you would be interested in applying on this basis, we would encourage you to contact the appointing manager to enquire further.

DBS Checks

Please be aware that all new employees starting work with us will be charged for the cost of their DBS check if it is required for the role. The cost will be deducted from your salary either in 1 payment or over a six month period once you start employment. By applying you are agreeing to this undertaking. If you are successful you will be asked to confirm if you wish to pay in one amount or in instalments. The charges are currently £27.38 for a standard check and £55.38 for an enhanced check. The level of check will be determined by the post you are applying for. Please note that Volunteers and Bank only staff will not be charged.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offers a confidential checking service for transgender applicants in accordance with the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This is known as the sensitive applications route, and is available for all levels of DBS check - basic, standard and enhanced. The sensitive applications route gives transgender applicants the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate that could reveal their previous identity. To contact the sensitive applications team, please telephone 0300 106 1452 or email sensitive@dbs.gov.uk.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Please note, the selection processes at York & Scarborough Teaching Hospitals are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn't accurately reflect their skills. You will be required to acknowledge that you are aware of this before submitting your application.

Agile and Flexible Working

We are committed to helping all staff balance their work with other commitments and have recently launched our new Agile and Flexible Working policy to support this, entitling all staff to request flexible working from day one - for all posts. We encourage you to speak to the recruiting manager named within this advert to discuss any requirements you may have.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

All our employees have access to a free, confidential counselling and wellbeing support service. Our EAP is available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Relocation Package

The Trust offers a generous relocation package of up to 30% of salary (capped at £18k) to support with relocation expenses for hard to fill positions where relocation would be an expectation to undertake the role fully. If you would like to discuss relocation further, please speak to the recruiting manager at interview.

A bit more about us and the surrounding area

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated in a fantastic part of the country that is home to two national parks, a beautiful coastline, and the city of York - consistently voted one of the best places to live in the UK. We provide a comprehensive range of acute hospital and specialist healthcare services for approximately 800,000 people living in and around York, North Yorkshire, North East Yorkshire and Ryedale - an area covering 3,400 square miles. Our annual turnover is approaching £0.5bn. We manage eight hospital sites and have a workforce of around 10,000 staff working across our hospitals and in the community.

Sponsorship

If you require sponsorship to work in the UK, check you are eligible under the UKVI points based system online. Not all jobs we advertise are eligible for sponsorship.

Applicant requirements

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.