Speech and Language Therapist - ELSEC

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

Job description

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking for a Speech and Language Therapist to join our welcoming team to support speech and language skills in the early years.

Gloucestershire is a pathfinder site for the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme. The team of Speech and Language Therapists and Assistants support the development and roll out of universal and targeted support for children in identified settings across Gloucestershire. You will work closely with parents, early years education staff, and more to build a lasting legacy of knowledge and support for our communities.

Gloucestershire also has a large team of children's Speech and Language Therapists and there will be opportunities for joint working across the team and with other services in the integrated directorate. Through this team you can access regular whole team meetings, including CPD sessions in a range of clinical areas. On top of this we have excellent clinical supervision you will be able to access.

***Fixed Term contract opportunity for up to 13 months***

This is a 13 month fixed term position. The post holder will contribute to the clinical development and delivery of the ELSEC (Early Language Support for Every Child) pathfinder including support with the therapy assistants.

Our team would love to support you with achieving your competencies should you be newly qualified or returning to practice.

Main duties of the job

• To act as a Speech and Language Therapist within the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) service, supporting the team to evolve and embed best practice in this new service.
• To independently manage a broad universal and targeted clinical caseload.
• To provide Speech and Language Therapy advice and support to settings to allow them to support children with communication needs up to Year 1.
• To be an integral member of system wide Speech and Language Therapy support services, acting as a resource to other medical, nursing, therapy and social services staff and voluntary agencies and as an interface link for speech and language therapy with early years education colleagues.
• Consolidate undergraduate clinical experience, develop independent clinical practice, participating in continuing professional development.
• To undertake service developments, evaluation and quality initiatives in line with the wider ELSEC programme as delegated, to deliver on outcomes identified for this pathfinder site.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunities to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Job responsibilities

• To be an SLT resource providing a universal and targeted service for children attending identified early years settings and schools in Gloucestershire.
• To support training offers for settings and delivery of targeted packages of care across Gloucestershire and act as a resource to provide early communication advice, guidance and consultation to speech and language therapists and other multidisciplinary team colleagues.
• To facilitate an improved understanding of early language support through education and training.
• Work with the settings, families and children in the local communities.
• To deliver training and/or screening packages in communication to other professionals working in community settings.
• To work closely with SLT colleagues in promoting the early referral to specialist service where required.
• To undertake Speech and Language Therapy practice development, audit and quality improvement.
• To strengthen clinical pathways and ensure evidence-based practice is inherent in all aspects of care and treatment, applying high quality evidence to change practice in line with relevant National Strategy, NHSE/I guidance and organisational objectives, policies and procedures.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• HCPC and RCSLT registration
• Recognised degree in speech and language therapy

Experience

• Evidence of experience in early years Speech and Language Therapy at undergraduate level
• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team

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.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Countywide community settings to be confirmed