Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Bristol & Leyhill

Main area Prisons Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 22.5 hours per week (3 days per week - 1 day HMP Bristol, 1 day HMP Leyhill, 1 day home/flexible) Job ref 277-7063098-BRIS

Employer Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site HMP Bristol Town Bristol Salary £46,148 - £52,809 pro rata inc Salary period Yearly Closing 06/04/2025 23:59

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Bristol & Leyhill

Band 7

Job overview

An exciting new challenge has arisen for a highly specialist speech and language therapist (SALT) to join Oxleas NHS trust in our South West prisons. This is a brand-new service and we are looking for experienced Speech and Language Therapists to join our highly specialist multidisciplinary teams in the South West.

Our Speech Therapy team is split by region and consists of 5 Specialist Speech Therapists each responsible for 2 prisons. You will report directly to our Operational Lead SALT for the South West. You will play a key role in implementing our vision and integration into our established healthcare services.

As SALTs, you will complement our multidisciplinary team and bridge the gap between existing learning disability (LD) provision and offender healthcare services providing assessments, consultation and co-working with complex clients with LD and autism who present a risk of harm to others. The service will also support service users with a complex mix of neurodevelopmental, speech, language, and communication, mental health, and intellectual disability needs who are high-risk, high-harm, high-vulnerability individuals.

This role is based across HMP's Bristol and Leyhill. You will work 1 day from HMP Bristol, 1 day from HMP Leyhill and 1 day from home/flexible. All travel expenses can be claimed through our mileage/expense system (Ts&Cs apply)

Main duties of the job

As a highly specialist Speech and Language therapist, you will provide specialist assessments and interventions for the neurodiverse population who have a variety of complex communication needs. Neurodiversity includes Autism, ADHD, Learning Disability, Acquired Brain Injury and Dementia.

You will independently manage your own caseload, accessing clinical and managerial supervision on a regular basis. While doing so, you will act as part of a multi-disciplinary team and represent the Speech and Language Therapy Service within your region.

As a specialist in your field, you will provide specialist advice to prison officers, other speech and language therapists, professionals, and stakeholders within and outside of the Prison/Trust regarding their specialist area, ensuring carers and family are involved in care where appropriate/possible.

This role will require you to provide compassionate, non-judgemental care that is based on empathy, kindness, respect, and dignity.

A prison tour is highly recommended prior to interview - shortlisted applicants will be contacted to arrange this.

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: Due to service budget restrictions we are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Working for our organisation

Oxleas – About Us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people living in South East London and Kent and to people in prison. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,000 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We Listen
• We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide specialist assessments and interventions for the neurodiverse population who have a variety of complex communication needs. Neurodiversity includes Autism, ADHD, Learning Disability, Acquired Brain Injury and Dementia.
• To independently manage own caseload, accessing clinical and managerial supervision on a regular basis.
• To champion the SLT profession.
• To act as part of a multi-disciplinary team and represent the Speech and Language Therapy Service at Team/Directorate meetings/working parties.
• To provide specialist advice to prison officers, other speech and language therapists, professionals, and stakeholders within and outside of the Prison/Trust regarding their specialist area, ensuring carers and family are involved in care where appropriate/possible.
• To provide compassionate, non-judgemental care that is based on empathy, kindness, respect, and dignity.

Management responsibilities

• To induct, train, review work performance and clinically supervise/appraise colleagues, as identified.
• To contribute to the development of Speech and Language Therapy Service policies and procedures, including participation in projects and quality improvement initiatives.
• To contribute to service development through relevant meetings and working groups.
• To plan and deliver training courses for the prison, education and healthcare staff.
• Communicate regularly through team meetings, business meetings, clinical forums and individually with team members providing an opportunity for two-way feedback.
• Ensure that service users and carers’ opinions and experiences are being responded to at a team level.
• Clinical record keeping is of a consistent high standard and meets trust policy and practice guidance.

Clinical-

• Deliver evidence-based practice regarding specialist speech and language therapy assessment, goal setting, intervention and evaluation.
• Monitor specialised packages of care including direct therapy, advice, and training. To have knowledge of specialist approaches used with this client group, for example, Talking Mats.
• To contribute to specialist multi-disciplinary assessment, preparing communication passports and accessible information.
• To contribute to and carry out Capacity to Consent Assessments in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act, as well providing assessment and advice related to issues of consent, capacity and best interests.
• To participate in professionals’ meetings both within the healthcare department as well as wider prison.
• To monitor clinical effectiveness and clinical outcome measures.
• To have a working knowledge of relevant procedures and policy including The Mental Health Act, Valuing People, The Mental Capacity Act, Liberty Protection Safeguards, Safeguarding Adults and other legal frameworks.
• To follow Health and Safety guidelines regarding unpleasant working conditions, e.g., Hepatitis, lone visits, exposure to bodily fluids.

Research-

• To contribute to regular and ongoing audits of Speech and Language Therapy Service work in order to contribute to knowledge of clinical effectiveness and outcomes.
• To develop own skills through training, support, supervision, and study in order to promote evidence-based practice.

Communication-

• To demonstrate well-developed communication and presentation skills.
• To provide and receive complex, sensitive, or contentious information where there may be significant barriers to understanding or acceptance possibly within emotive, distressing and/or antagonistic atmospheres.
• To adapt spoken and written information to suit the communication needs of the listener/audience.
• To demonstrate well-developed motivation, kindness, negotiation, empathy, and reassurance.
• To liaise with other members of the Multi-Disciplinary Teams, this may include prison discipline staff, support staff, other healthcare disciplines, and commissioners.
• To work closely with SLTs from other areas of the trust and in other services.
• To develop and deliver specialist presentations and training to a range of audiences including Service Users, operational staff e.g., prison and non-operational e.g., healthcare and education, in both small and large groups.
• To provide letters, care plans and reports as necessary.
• To provide accurate and contemporaneous statistical information in accordance with local standards.
• To use basic word processing skills and specialist software packages to develop communication aids and accessible information.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

• Proof of right to work documentation
• Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
• Proof of address documentation
• Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

Person specification

Education & Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
• Health Care Professions Council – Licence to Practice
• Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist
• Completion of specialist short courses up to Masters Degree or equivalent.
• Positive Behaviour Support, social stories, completion of further education and/or CPD relating to Autism.

Experience

• Significant post graduate experience which demonstrates the competencies to meet the role requirements outlined in the JD.
• Experience working with people with learning difficulties/disabilities, Autistic people.
• Experience working with people who present with behaviour that may challenge services and/or a range of offending behaviours.
• Experience of working in secure settings.
• Experience in mentoring/supporting less experienced staff/assistants.
• Specialist knowledge of working with complex cases in terms of dual diagnosis, behaviour that may challenge and social/environmental factors.
• Skilled in use of alternative and augmentative communication systems.

Skills

• Knowledge and skill in providing a range of SLT assessment approaches and therapeutic interventions for adults with learning disability and/or autistic people who may have additional barriers impacting their communication, such as mental health, trauma, discrimination and social factors.
• To have extensive experience/training in active listening or motivational interviewing skills.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme - Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.

We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.

Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process. We also discourage overuse of AI during the application process because this can negatively impact the quality of your application and may hinder your chances of being shortlisted. Thank you.

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.

Name Gill Faley Job title Operational Lead Speech and Language Therapy Email address gill.faley@nhs.net