Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

NHS; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job description

Highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trusts

This is an exciting opportunity to join our brilliant team covering a maternity leave post! The post holder will be joining the Specialist Medicine team, providing a highly specialist service to patients at Nottingham University Hospital Trust. The team provides input to a wide range of specialties including Acute Medicine, Respiratory, Cancer services, Surgical specialties, and 'front door' services. You will be joining a large and supportive team of therapists, including 2 Clinical Specialist SLTs, supported by assistant SLTs. There is a FEES and videofluoroscopy service, and training to develop competencies in instrumental dysphagia assessment is available. The team provides a service across both NUH's campuses: City and QMC. The team has very close links with the MDT and there are opportunities for service development and to enhance your leadership skills.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work alongside other Band 7 SLTs in the team and the Clinical Specialist SLT with designated responsibilities for team leadership and clinical care.

The post holder is responsible for providing a highly specialist SLT assessment, management, and treatment programme to people with communication and swallowing difficulties.

The post holder will provide highly specialist clinical expertise, with experience working with a wide range of aetiologies and specialisms.

The post holder will provide day-to-day management of the service and high-quality clinical supervision.

The post holder may also lead on strategic developments within their specialism, in liaison with their colleagues and service leads.

This is a full-time post but we would consider part-time and is a fixed-term post of 9 months.

About us

With over 19,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the city with a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our local population. We play a leading role in research, education, and innovation.

Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team to deliver world-class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.

Job responsibilities

In addition to the below summary, you need to familiarise yourself with the full Job Description and Person Specification documents attached to this advert.

1. To work autonomously to provide a coordinated and highly specialist service to designated specialism within a multi-disciplinary/multi-agency context and inform and advise the service leads as to training, resources, trends and development needs.
2. To work collaboratively with a variety of different agencies/professionals ensuring management and treatment meets the holistic needs, providing a well-coordinated care plan for specialism/setting.
3. To represent the Speech and Language Therapy service at agreed forums.
4. To represent speech, language and communication and/or dysphagia needs at agreed forums.
5. To participate in multi-disciplinary projects as agreed.

Clinical Practice

To independently manage, triage and prioritise own complex caseload providing a highly specialist SLT assessment, formulation, diagnosis, intervention and advice based on evidence-based practice.

The post requires:

• Recognised Speech & Language Therapy Degree.
• HCPC and RCSLT registration.
• Evidence of appropriate CPD post qualifying.

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications

• Recognised Speech & Language Therapy Degree Qualification.
• Additional postgraduate training up to master's degree equivalent.
• Health and Care Professions Council License to Practice.
• Registered member of RCSLT.
• Post-graduate experience in specialist area.

Experience

• Significant post-graduate experience within this specialist client group, working with dysphagia and communication difficulties autonomously and without direct supervision.
• Experience in evaluation of evidence-based practice, audit, and benchmarking.
• Experience of service development and service planning.
• Experience of supporting and supervising less experienced staff.
• Experience of working in the acute setting.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency context.
• Advanced post-graduate training in dysphagia.
• FEES/VF competency.

Communication and relationship skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy skills.
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with the multidisciplinary team, patients, and carers.
• Excellent presentation skills both written and verbal.
• Well-established negotiation, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills.
• Demonstrate leadership ability.
• Demonstrated NUH Trust values.

Analytical and judgement skills

• To independently provide highly specialist Speech and Language Therapy assessment, formulation, intervention, and advice service for individuals, their families, and MDT professionals, using highly specialist knowledge underpinned by current evidence-based practice.
• Ability to assess complex information, formulate a diagnosis and plan patient management using clinical reasoning skills and a range of treatment options, based on well-established knowledge of a broad range of assessments and appropriate specialist therapeutic interventions.
• Ability to solve problems within the team and make decisions where there are a range of options including clinical and strategic issues.
• Assess and manage risk in own area including identifying clinical risks and carry out MDT Risk assessments as appropriate.
• Provides and contributes to the analysis of information and data such as caseload statistics, outcomes, activities, contacts, referral patterns.

Planning and organisation skills

• Plans, manages and prioritises own specialist caseload and those of others.
• Well organised and able to prioritise a high turnover caseload.
• Effective delegation and time management skills.
• Plans, organises and delivers in-service training and clinical education of students.
• Ensures appropriate clinical and profession-specific supervision arrangements are in place for staff within remit.

Physical skills

• Able to undertake SLT interventions in a busy ward-based environment.
• Able to use computer keyboard, relevant computer programmes including the inputting of data.

Other requirements specific to the role

• Able to travel to required areas within and beyond the Trust.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trusts

Speech and Language Therapy Pathway Lead