Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Preschool

NHS; London Borough of Harrow; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job description

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Preschool

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

We have an exciting opportunity for a Speech and Language Therapist with highly specialist skills to work with preschool children and their families across our community settings.

You will join a diverse and highly skilled team of therapists working in community settings with 0-19s. As an SLT you will work alongside Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists and have strong links with professionals in health, education and other community services.

The post holder will be an autonomous practitioner, providing a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapy service primarily to children aged 0-5. The post holder will work with children with a range of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) in clinic and Harrow pre-school settings. A significant proportion of these children will have languages other than English.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to manage their own caseload, and work alongside medical and community colleagues to ensure the communication needs are managed appropriately and that highly specialist therapy programmes and education plans are in place for the children in home/pre-school settings.

The post holder will have a key role in advising, supporting and supervising other SLTs working with children with autism/neurodiversity/social communication differences. They will be expected to work collaboratively with children/young people (CYP), parents/carers and with MDT colleagues including within health, education or social services in the planning and delivery of services to these specific client groups.

The post holder will contribute to departmental meetings, and lead audit and projects within the specialist area. They will be responsible for planning and delivering highly specialist training to other SLTs, professionals and parents/carers on all aspects of speech, language and communication. They will provide clinical education and training to Speech and Language Therapy students and provide clinical supervision to Speech and Language Therapy Assistants (SLTAs) and Speech and Language Therapy Associate Practitioners (SLTAPs) and SLTs developing specialist skills.

About us

We are:

• CNWL's Team of the Year 2023-24.
• A large supportive, sociable and friendly MDT team of over 35 Paediatric Therapists.
• Committed to the well-being of our staff.
• Easily accessible via public transport from central London and neighbouring Counties.
• Providing services to both community and acute settings.

We can provide:

• A warm welcome.
• Highly structured induction.
• Excellent levels of support and supervision which includes regular clinical and management supervision every 8 weeks and an annual appraisal.
• Termly peer supervision meetings where you can discuss cases, read articles together and share your experiences.
• Clearly defined caseloads.
• A wide range of opportunities for continuing professional development.
• Easy access to clinical specialists in all clinical areas.
• Designated admin and planning time.
• Involvement in innovative project work in acute and community settings.
• Memberships at relevant CENs are supported and encouraged.

Job responsibilities

• To communicate highly complex patient related information effectively to ensure collaborative working with multidisciplinary team members across health, education and social services and the voluntary sector. In particular to work with education staff to ensure the use of communication systems and strategies to ensure the delivery of a well-co-ordinated care/individual education plan which facilitates the development of communications skills.
• To share information with others, observing confidentiality and data protection guidelines and having due regard for local guidance on sharing information with colleagues in Health, Education, Social Services, the multi-disciplinary team and with the therapy service in the child's local area.
• To communicate highly complex condition related information (both verbally and in the written form) from assessment to CYP, parents/carers, and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions. This includes child specific information as well as training packages to education staff around the management of SLCN, including the use of alternative and augmentative communication systems.
• To have due regard for the cultural and linguistic differences of children/families concerned.
• To work closely with CYP, carers and families, involving them in decision-making regarding intervention approaches, demonstrating and ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist (i.e. hearing loss, communication difficulties, languages other than English and learning difficulties). This may involve use of signing, symbol systems, voice output communication aids and interpreters.
• To employ excellent communication skills such as persuasion, motivation and explanations to encourage clients and carers to undertake treatment programmes.
• To demonstrate established negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations.
• To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible and report to senior staff.
• To form productive relationships with others in particular parents/carers who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties.
• To write clinical reports as per departmental standards reflecting highly specialist knowledge.
• To provide written advice for statutory assessment of special educational needs describing the impact of SLCN within the child's learning environment.

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent.
• Health Professions Council registration - Licence to Practice.
• Evidence of completion of specialist short courses relevant to children with complex communication difficulties/autism.
• Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Membership of relevant CEN groups.

Experience

• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team.
• Extensive post graduate experience of: Assessment, treatment and management of children with social communication differences/autism.
• Experience of: Writing advice for children with EHCPs, managing own caseload, teaching other professionals/parents, clinical audits, clinical supervision of SLTs and SLTAs, teaching and supervising SLT students, lead audit/research projects.
• Supervision training.
• Quality improvement training.

Knowledge and Skills

• Well-established knowledge of assessment tools relevant to CYP and speech, language and communication.
• Well-established knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions relevant to the above client group including alternative/augmentative communication systems available to CYP.
• Good negotiation skills and problem solving skills.
• Working knowledge of the roles of other professionals in the multidisciplinary team involved with the pre-school caseload.
• Understanding of differences of working with non English-speaking service users and those from diverse cultures.
• Established knowledge of national policies and procedures, in particular safeguarding children, SEN and Disability Act for children, the Children and Families Act 2014 and foundation stage and National Curriculum.
• Well-established knowledge of assessment tools relevant to CYP with eating/drinking difficulties.

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.

Salary

£51,883 to £58,544 a year per annum incl HCAS (pro rata if P/T)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

333-G-HCS-1123

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