Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (Stroke) Golden Hello £1,500

Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (Stroke) Golden Hello £1,500

This post is an excellent opportunity for an SLT who is passionate about stroke care and wanting to develop their skills within the Stroke Unit setting as a Band 6 SLT. The Stroke Unit at James Paget University Hospital is a 30 bed unit which includes hyper acute, acute and in patient Stroke rehabilitation.

This is a chance to work in a unique SLT team employed by East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) CIC, an innovative social enterprise covering the Great Yarmouth and Waveney localities whilst working within the James Paget University Hospital. This provides you a rare benefit of not only working within the acute service but also maintaining close working relationships with the ECCH stroke ESD service and onwards throughout the whole stroke pathway.

Benefits: £1,500 Golden Hello payment, paid in three installments. This post attracts a "Golden Hello" payment of £1,500 (taxable): £500 will become payable on appointment, a further £500 will become payable after 6 months in post and the final £500 will become payable after 12 months in post (pro rata if applicable). Please note that the Golden Hello is not available to internal applicants.

Main duties of the job

Your role will be to assess, diagnose and manage communication and swallowing difficulties with inpatients on the stroke unit and, where appropriate, outliers on the acute wards at the James Paget University Hospital. You will be the senior SLT on the unit working with a band 5 SLT and with support from a band 7 SLT. You will be involved in daily board rounds and weekly MDT meetings. You should have excellent communication skills and a proven track record of successful multi-disciplinary team working, maintaining good working relationships with the ability to work flexibly and balance changing priorities in a fast-paced inpatient environment. You will be experienced and confident in your ability to assess, devise and deliver therapy programmes for clients with speech and language difficulties following stroke. You will be competent in independently assessing and managing swallowing difficulties post stroke and seeking second opinions and onward referrals where appropriate. We have an established Dysphagia Trained Nurse programme on the unit which you will be involved in. You will have a working knowledge of the National Stroke Strategy, National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke and SSNAP and keep abreast of research and new developments in stroke care and contribute to in-service training.

We are a small team, where you will receive a warm welcome, regular supervision, training and development opportunities and a united team approach.

About us

ECCH is a well-established health care provider and has been successfully delivering NHS care within the community since 2011. We provide a range of NHS, community health and social care services predominantly across the easterly region of the Norfolk/Suffolk borders.

We are aligned to NHS terms and conditions, and offer many employee benefits. To find out more about us visit our website - www.ecch.org. We are a social enterprise and staff-owned organisation which means staff can opt to be shareholders and have a real say in how ECCH is run and evolves to deliver healthcare for the future.

At the heart of our ambition, we work in partnership with and for the community to become the provider and employer of choice for community healthcare.

This post is advertised as a full-time position but may be suitable for a job share. If you would like to know more about what we have to offer and how we work please do contact us. We would welcome visits from interested applicants.

Job responsibilities

• To adhere to National and local standards and guidelines relating to Professional Practice (CQ3 and HCPC).
• To be aware of and adhere to current legislation and employer procedures relating to the post.
• To demonstrate commitment to personal development and acquisition of further skills and knowledge.
• To keep abreast of research in the field of stroke care.
• To be responsible for collecting own work statistics as specified in the James Paget University Hospital service level agreement.
• To be responsible for managing own time appropriately.
• To be responsible for managing a defined caseload.
• To work closely and effectively with staff on the stroke unit.
• To supervise work with volunteers and assistants where appropriate.
• To be responsible for student observation.
• To be responsible for assessment, differential diagnosis, formulation of treatment plans, writing assessment reports, providing appropriate intervention and evaluating the treatment outcomes for each individual patient.
• To seek second opinions when necessary.
• To make onward referrals when necessary.
• To accept support from designated colleagues.
• To offer advice to clients, carers and significant others about individual patients, and demonstrate practical procedures when appropriate.
• To attend and contribute to staff and team meetings.
• To contribute to local and national audit and quality measures.
• To highlight and request equipment necessary for caseload management.
• To attend multi-disciplinary meetings on the stroke unit.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Recognised qualification in Speech & Language Therapy
• Registered member of HCPC/ RCSLT
• Dysphagia trained

Experience

• Broad and varied clinical experience in the field of Stroke minimum one year experience
• Experience of working on an acute Stroke Unit

Personal Attributes

• Punctual and reliable
• Able to organise workload and manage time
• Able to maintain intense concentration in all aspects of patient management
• Able to identify when to seek support
• Able to convey complex condition related information clearly to clients and other professionals in written and verbal form
• Friendly and approachable
• Able to appreciate and use good humour appropriately within work
• Able to manage emotional consequences of working with patients with a range of conditions/needs
• Accepts and follows advice and guidance
• Understands the importance of self-awareness and reflection
• Willing to support colleagues and work collaboratively
• Resilient and has an awareness of the biological and psycho-social influences which may impact on work with clients and may also have an impact on the way the multi-disciplinary team functions

Skills and Knowledge

• Dysphagia trained
• Highly developed auditory & perceptual skills for use in all areas of practice
• Ability to identify and describe use of appropriate assessments for all client groups
• Demonstrates a passion for Stroke care
• Keeps abreast of stroke research
• Ability to plan treatment packages for clients with communication difficulties
• Ability to apply band 6 knowledge of clinical issues/developments to clinical practice
• Ability to communicate effectively with clients with communication impairment
• Ability to identify own strengths and needs in relation to post
• Ability to form relationships with clients and carers/family
• Ability to work within a team
• Good knowledge of legal requirements/government initiatives which may influence practice
• Awareness of the importance and usefulness of measuring the impact of therapy
• Demonstrates an interest in innovative practice
• Able to work within trust moving and handling guidelines
• Able to demonstrate good understanding of the principles of managing diversity and the implications of this on good Speech and Language Therapy practice
• Has basic counselling skills

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.