Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist

Job ref: 820-6997887-CF

Employer: Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Employer type: NHS

Site: Community locations in Birmingham

Town: Birmingham

Salary: £29,970 - £36,483 per annum (pro rata)

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 23/03/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Band 5

Job overview

Come and join our Children’s SaLT team in Birmingham: a vibrant multicultural city!

Are you a newly qualified SLT? Or an experienced Band 5 looking for a new challenge?

Are you passionate about integrated working, functional outcomes for children, and enabling education staff and parents as part of The Balanced System approach?

Do you want to be part of a SLT service with an experienced, optimistic, and inclusive workforce of SLTs and education partners?

If so, come and join us!

It’s an exciting time for the service:

• Community SaLT teams working in localities developing local networks and building skills in the wider workforce.
• A SEND locality therapy agenda to integrate education and Local Authority and early years partners, supporting a graduated approach to helping children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
• We are in our second year of delivering a Balanced System approach to support children with SLCN; working in partnership with families and a wide range of stakeholders.

Join our SaLT team!

• We offer excellent preceptorship support for NQPs with regular individual and group sessions & access to Specialists.
• We offer flexible working options, delivering care face to face and virtually, in education settings, clinics, family homes, and out in the community.

We aim to make our interviews as accessible as possible. Please contact us for more information about the reasonable adjustments you may require during your interview.

Main duties of the job

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to:

• Manage your own caseload of children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) including assessment, diagnosis, and intervention, using an enabling model to support functional outcomes, and responding flexibly to the highest areas of need.
• Use existing skills or be supported to develop skills in working with children with eating and drinking difficulties.
• Work alongside education, Local Authority, and Early Years partners, supporting a graduated approach to helping children with SLCN.
• Work within a locality to develop networks, build skills in the wider workforce, and increase the impact of our interventions.

Join our department at this exciting time:

• The SLT service works as part of Inclusion Services within the Children and Families Division of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. We work across the whole City, within a range of community and educational settings, thus requiring successful applicants to demonstrate a high level of flexibility.
• We have an experienced team committed to taking NQPs through preceptorship, and a culture of ongoing learning and clinical supervision. Those who join the eating and drinking team will have access to post-graduate training.
• We value our staff and advocate career progression internally. We encourage our therapists to contribute to service development, and we welcome and value new ideas and experiences.

Working for our organisation

Be Part of Our Team...

BCHC has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands in a wide range of community nursing and specialist healthcare roles. BCHC delivers over 100 clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehab Centre and one of Europe’s leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.

If you want to ‘Be Part of Our Team’ and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for best care and healthy communities, we want to hear from you.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

See Job description for more detail:

• To provide Speech and Language Therapy, functioning in partnership with other agencies and disciplines to support the early identification of need.
• To support partners in implementing the Balanced System across the 3 levels (universal, targeted, and specialist) and 5 strands (family support, workforce, environment, identification, and intervention) of the approach.
• Managing your own caseload of Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and eating and drinking difficulties including assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. You will be part of a Locality Team and will have access to supervision, training, and advice from Advanced Specialists in specific clinical areas.
• Offering intervention in the environment most appropriate to client needs including schools and preschool settings in your locality, clinics, and patient homes.
• Developing professional skills through a range of CPD activities.
• Work as part of multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams, including educational colleagues, providing early intervention for children and young people.
• Enable and empower staff, parents/caregivers to identify children’s needs and provide strategies to help at the earliest opportunity.
• Provide training and bespoke coaching to children and young people, early years/school staff and parents/caregivers.
• Consult and work collaboratively with children and young people, parents, caregivers and school staff to problem solve functional difficulties.
• Participate in meetings with staff from the wider SEND locality teams, as required, to support early identification of need, ensuring specialist help through locality forums.
• Use specialist knowledge to inform clinical judgments and decision-making.
• Undertaking assessment of clients’ communication and eating and drinking skills making appropriate clinical decisions with access to senior colleagues as required.
• Structuring clear therapy plans based on best practice.
• Advising and facilitating the decision-making process regarding patient/client management by ensuring that effective communication is achieved.
• Using highly developed communication skills to explain complex condition related information from assessment/therapy plan to clients/carers and multidisciplinary team members.

Person specification

Skills/Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Ability to generate written communication, which is relevant, concise, accurate and legible.
• Demonstrates awareness of and sensitivity to the needs of individuals from minority groups.

Desirable criteria

• Has knowledge of assessment, diagnosis and intervention strategies of a wide range of clinical areas covered by degree.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Degree level qualification, relevant to service area (SLT).
• HCPC registration, Full Membership of Professional body.
• Evidence of recent relevant CPD activities.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Relevant experience in therapeutic settings.
• Relevant evidence of application of the therapy process during practice placement in paediatrics and community.

Disability Confident Employer and Guaranteed Interview Scheme

BCHC offers a guaranteed interview to any candidate who is Disabled, Neurodiverse, has a hidden or long term health condition as recognised under the Equality Act 2010, providing they meet the essential criteria of the job role, as set out in the person specification. We encourage applicants to submit their applications and to request any reasonable adjustments where required.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Birmingham is a fantastic place to live and we serve a wide range of people and communities. BCHC are an advocate of diversity and strive to mirror the community we serve as much possible.

We are committed to and actively promote equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals from all areas of the community who meet the specific criteria are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage/civil partnerships.

Promoting Workforce Equality

In response to data held by BCHC which demonstrates that individuals from particular protected characteristics are under-represented, BCHC are striving to redress these imbalances. In order to do this, the Trust is committed to the employment and career development of individuals with these protected characteristics. As part of this commitment and given this under-representation, the Trust guarantees an interview to any applicants from under-represented groups for positions at Band 8a and above whose application meets the essential criteria for the post as detailed on the Person Specification.

The Trust is currently under-represented in terms of people who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic (BME) and welcomes applicants from these communities. Selection will be on the basis of merit. In order to ensure the diversity of our workforce and understand the differing needs of our communities, the Trust is committed to the principles of Positive Action.

Flexible Working

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) supports a variety of flexible working practices and, where possible (given our range of services and community settings) dependent upon the requirements associated with the role, will actively consider requests made and support these where practically possible. This may include hybrid patterns of working to enable colleagues to request the flexibility of a mixture of home/base working.

In accordance with the NHS People Promise, the Trust is committed to facilitating a healthy work/life balance that is essential to health and wellbeing and to making BCHC a ‘Great Place to Work’. We will be happy to discuss and consider all requests relating to working patterns and hours at your interview so please do ask!

Using Artificial Intelligence

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust acknowledges Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini etc; are powerful tools that can help you in various stages of your job application and how they can be used in certain circumstances during your application process with BCHC. You can read more about acceptable use on our internet pages here.

Benefits of working for us:

• Full NHS terms and conditions including extensive holidays, Agenda for Change pay with enhancements.
• Attractive relocation payment if you relocate to the local area.
• Discounts for local and national retailers.
• Dedicated well-being services for all employees.
• Flexible working where possible.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.