Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Are you a Speech and Language Therapist with an interest in working with adults who are autistic or who have a learning disability? Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to be part of a new service development in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Region?

The Specialist Community Forensic Team have been commissioned to work with key stakeholders and partner agencies to enhance community provision for people who are autistic or who have a learning disability.

The Specialist Community Forensic Team is a multi-disciplinary team which consists of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Psychology, and Social Work. You would be expected to work across all areas of Lancashire and South Cumbria and liaise with a range of partner agencies. As a developing service, there is likely to be an investment across disciplines in relation to CPD activity and further relevant qualifications to the post.

Working hours are primarily Monday-Friday 9-5pm. Flexible working will be considered for all roles. You will be based at Alexander House as our community base. We are looking to recruit a Band 6 Speech and Language Therapists, who will work alongside the Band 7 Speech and Language Therapists.

Main duties of the job

You will provide high quality consultation, specialist assessment and intervention to deliver effective person-centred Speech and Language Therapy services for people who have come into contact or are at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. This will include assessment and formulation of the interface between an individual's communication profile and presenting risk.

You will use neurodiversity affirming practices and work within a strengths-based model when carrying out assessment and intervention. For example, understanding autism as part of someone's identity and supporting the development of self-advocacy, emotional literacy, and perspective-taking skills.

You will contribute to multiagency formulation and care planning for individuals, e.g. contributing to PBS plans, risk assessments, and capacity formulation to manage and reduce risk and improve quality of life for individuals referred into the service.

Previous experience of work within a forensic setting/service is not essential as we know that this is a growing and developing area of Speech and Language Therapy practice. Applications from individuals with interest and experience working in learning disability, autism, and/or mental health services are strongly encouraged.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales, and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction, and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable, and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce costs as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

1. To carry a Speech and Language Therapy clinical caseload of adults with a learning disability and/or autistic adults who have come into contact with or are at risk of contact with the criminal justice system.

2. To provide person-centred specialist assessment and intervention for this client group, including assessment and formulation of the interface between an individual's communication profile and presenting risk.

3. To use neurodiversity affirming practices and work within a strengths-based model when carrying out assessment and intervention. For example, understanding autism as part of someone's identity and supporting the development of self-advocacy, emotional literacy, and perspective-taking skills.

4. To use evidence-based practice to evaluate outcomes for individuals with complex communication needs.

5. To contribute to multiagency formulation and care planning for individuals, e.g. contributing to PBS plans, risk assessments, and capacity formulation to manage and reduce risk and improve quality of life for individuals referred into the service.

6. To formulate reports to explain the person's communication needs, therapeutic intervention, and support strategies for a range of audiences including families, carers, and other professionals.

7. To provide advice, training, and consultation to others in how to meet the communication needs of individuals referred into the service, including how to optimise the communication environment.

8. To maintain clinical care records in accordance with professional and Trust standards.

9. To employ excellent communication skills with clients where there are significant barriers to communication and/or engagement. This may include individuals with associated disabilities e.g. physical disability, deafness, mental illness.

10. To work flexibly and creatively to collate information from a range of sources to inform assessment and decision making, particularly in situations where there are barriers to completing direct assessment.

11. To use, teach and advise upon the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication and Total Communication strategies as appropriate for the client group.

12. To use, teach and advise upon the development of accessible care planning and other bespoke accessible information as appropriate for the client group.

13. To work closely with Speech and Language Therapy colleagues from other clinical settings/teams including contributing to peer support networks.

Managerial/professional leadership

1. Demonstrate engaging leadership skills to be able to initiate, monitor and implement change, leading by example and motivating others.

2. In line with local guidelines, review and reflect on own practice and performance through effective use of professional and operational supervision and appraisal.

3. To provide effective guidance, supervision, and appraisals for junior staff as required both internally and externally.

4. To be a positive ambassador for the Speech and Language Therapy profession.

5. To attend, facilitate and chair multidisciplinary meetings when required, producing reports and giving feedback on individual cases.

6. To use verbal and non-verbal communication skills established through training and experience to impart sensitive information and manage difficult conversations.

7. To participate in the operational planning, and implementation of policy and service development within your team, leading on delegated projects.

8. To be a registered member of R.C.S.L.T. and H.P.C. adhering to the clinical guidelines and standards of practice. To evaluate and contribute to professional reviews of clinical standards and guidelines.

9. To contribute to the delivery of Valuing People and Valuing People Now objectives for clients with a learning disability.

CLINICAL Shared Team

1. To provide comprehensive risk assessment of offending and/or other complex behaviours and provide risk management strategies and recommendations within a multi-agency context.

2. To contribute to the development of a formulation of offending behaviour and/or risk within comprehensive risk assessment frameworks e.g. FARAS.

3. To uphold and advocate for least restrictive practice principles and uphold clinical responsibility within appropriate legal frameworks.

4. To participate in and/or lead service user reviews ensuring that service users' needs are met and that the team has all the relevant information on which to base their clinical decisions.

5. To liaise with family members, carers, and significant others as necessary when completing the assessment and developing care plans. To be a point of contact for service users and carers that have concerns regarding their care, making every effort to resolve their concerns sensitively and promptly, referring to and informing senior management as required.

6. To collaboratively develop crisis contingency plans ensuring service users' communication needs are described within these.

7. To use skills gained through training and experience to de-escalate situations where service users may become physically or verbally aggressive.

8. To utilise core interpersonal skills to quickly and effectively build positive relationships with external agencies whilst managing expectations, recognising the need for both compassion and negotiation.

Qualifications:

Essential:

• Professional Speech and Language Therapy Degree. (BA/BSc or BMedSci)
• Up to date HCPC Professional Registration (to be maintained)
• Evidence of attendance at relevant short courses in specialist field.

Desirable:

• Post graduate training and experience in autism, learning disabilities, and/or mental health.

Knowledge and skills

Essential:

• Significant experience working with adults with a learning disability, autistic adults, and/or adults with mental health needs.
• Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency working.
• Knowledge and experience of SLT assessment and intervention relevant to the client group.
• Ability and willingness to travel across the Cheshire and Merseyside region.

Desirable:

• Experience and/or awareness of working with forensic settings.
• Knowledge of the criminal justice system.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential:

• Accredited Speech and Language Therapy qualification (BSc)
• Registration with HCPC

Desirable:

• Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy (RCSLT)
• Post graduate training/qualification in Dysphagia

KNOWLEDGE/ EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• A philosophy and approach that empowers people
• Knowledge of alternative and augmentative communication and dysphagia
• A person-centred approach to service delivery
• Understanding of current NHS changes
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary Team
• Experience with provision of supervision and delegation to junior members of staff
• Experience of use of outcome measures for clinical evaluation
• Driving Licence
• Basic IT Skills (Microsoft Software: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, MS Teams)

Desirable:

• Direct experience of working with adults with communication and swallowing disorders
• Experience of inter-agency working
• Experience of designing and delivering training for staff groups
• Experience of using iPads and other forms of technology to support communication
• Experience of facilitating groups

Skills

Essential:

• A demonstrated understanding of Equality and Human Rights
• Ability to convey information and skills to direct care staff
• Good time management and organizational skills
• Flexible approach skills towards service change, demands, and pressure

Desirable:

• Experience of providing clinical supervision (to students or SaLT staff)

Employer details

Employer name:
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address:
Alexander House
32 Station Brow
Leyland
PR25 3NZ

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