Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Band 7, School

Job Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly specialist speech and language therapist to join our school therapy team. This role will require the successful candidate to provide specialist speech and language therapy and clinical leadership to children, young people, and families accessing the Children's Trust School and residential services.

Main Duties of the Job

The successful candidate will provide high-quality, evidence-based speech and language therapy assessment and intervention to children and young people with neurodisabilities and neurodevelopmental concerns, within a multidisciplinary and multi-agency setting.

They will support children and young people with communication needs, speech, and language difficulties, eating and drinking, and tracheostomy care at a highly specialist level, working within a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency setting.

The role will involve leading the provision of high-quality, evidence-based speech and language therapy provision for children and young people attending the Children's Trust School, in partnership with other members of the multidisciplinary team and education services.

Key Responsibilities

1. Provide high-quality, evidence-based speech and language therapy interventions for children and young people attending the Children's Trust.
2. Lead the provision of high-quality, evidence-based speech and language therapy provision for children and young people attending the Children's Trust School, in partnership with other members of the multidisciplinary team and education services.
3. Support the multidisciplinary team regarding the impact of tracheostomies on speaking and swallowing, following assessment of laryngeal integrity, secretion management, and swallow.
4. Undertake specialist speech and language therapy assessments of children with highly complex needs, multiple co-morbidities, neurodisabilities, and chronic conditions, through standardized and non-standardized assessments and clinical observations.
5. Devise suitable, individual, speech and language therapy plans that fit within the child's daily routine, whether to be carried out by parents or members of the multidisciplinary team; these should be monitored, evaluated, and adjusted appropriately according to the needs of the child.
6. Be an autonomous practitioner with responsibility for assessment, treatment, and planning for an allocated caseload of children/young people.
7. Be a key point of support and advice for the speech and language therapy team and multidisciplinary team.
8. Work closely with all members of the multidisciplinary team, as well as the child and family, to provide a fully integrated approach to the overall management of the child.
9. Liaise with all appropriate medical staff, whether employed by the Children's Trust, visiting consultants, or at off-site clinics, and attend clinics with the child as required.
10. Contribute to the assessment and discussion of new referrals to the Children's Trust, carrying out off-site referral assessments around the United Kingdom, as required.
11. Contribute to child-related reports, including looked-after children and annual review reports, as required, and assist with the collation of these as and when required, in a timely manner and in line with organizational targets.
12. Utilize patient-reported and standardized outcome measures for each allocated child/young person and complete in a timely manner.
13. Assess, evaluate, and recommend discharge/transition plans for children/young people within the multidisciplinary team framework.
14. Provide assessment and management guidelines for young people with assistive technology needs, sharing information with the assistive technology team, and referring to national hubs where appropriate.
15. Provide assessment and intervention in the clinical area of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) for school, teaching, and integrating skills with members of the multidisciplinary and educational teams.
16. Support the multidisciplinary and education team with measuring short-term targets through using the IMpacts curriculum, therapy outcome measurement tools, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS).
17. Teach, integrate, and monitor speech and language therapy interventions in the child's environment, whether it is carried out by parents, school staff, therapy staff, nursing, and care staff or volunteers.
18. Assess and organize the provision of necessary speech and language therapy/eating and drinking equipment.
19. Keep appropriate and accurate intervention records, fulfilling legal, professional, and all other requirements of the Children's Trust.
20. Contribute to child-related reports, including looked-after children and annual review reports, as required, and assist with the collation of these as required, in a timely manner in line with organizational targets.
21. Escalate any concerns around dysphagia to our specialist providers and medical teams, where appropriate.
22. Lead and deliver a tiered model approach for speech and language therapy at the Children's Trust School, providing regular integrated time to classes and houses.
23. Provide leadership within the context of MDTs in Special Schools internally and externally.
24. Work closely with all members of the multidisciplinary team and the child and family to provide a fully integrated approach to the overall management of the child.
25. Assess, evaluate, and recommend discharge/transition plans for children/young people within the multidisciplinary team framework.
26. Provide clinical cover across the service during episodes of staff shortage/heavy workload, in order to ensure effective service delivery.
27. Work flexibly in terms of hours, in order to meet the needs of the service, including an early evening (weekly) and one weekend day, per calendar month.
28. Represent the Therapy Team and the Children's Trust when appropriate, deputising for the Heads of Therapy as required.
29. Actively participate in and support the running of relevant meetings and groups.
30. Facilitate effective communication with families and members of the multidisciplinary team, supporting others to embed the advice regarding management of needs around communication and eating and drinking and tracheostomy care.
31. Recognize barriers to communication and be able to reduce these as appropriate.
32. Communicate regularly and effectively with the Heads of Therapy.
33. Maintain clear and concise documents and records, in accordance with the Children's Trust Policy.
34. Ensure documents are managed confidentially at all times.
35. Involve children and families in areas of service development.
36. Use a range of advanced communication skills, to share specialized information and discussions with a range of audiences, with different levels of knowledge and expertise.
37. Attend, contribute, and chair Multidisciplinary Team meetings, to discuss individual children/young people.
38. Develop and promote relationships with external networks, including professionals, stakeholders, and specialist centres, in order to ensure excellence of care, whilst representing the organization and reflecting the Children's Trust core values.
39. Manage informal complaints, in line with the Children's Trust policies and contribute to the resolution of written complaints and as they occur, taking immediate action where necessary.
40. Working alongside the School Leadership Team and Head of Therapy, lead on identified and agreed areas of service development and quality improvement within a defined clinical area, including designing, implementing, and reviewing these.
41. Participate in the overall day-to-day management and development of the speech and language therapy service, to ensure an efficient and safe service for all.
42. Provide day-to-day leadership, support, and supervision for junior staff, technicians, volunteers, and students, within the area of responsibility, providing direction, motivation, and support to achieve key objectives.
43. Represent the Therapy Team on behalf of the Head of Therapies for Rehabilitation/School, when requested.
44. Take on the role of Lead Professional or Coordinating Therapist, following team discussion or as requested by the Head of Therapy, in accordance with the current profile description.
45. Participate in the annual Performance Development Review and monthly supervision sessions, as required by the Children's Trust, both as Appraiser and Appraise.
46. Advise the Head of Therapy, regarding resources and equipment needs, including shortfalls.
47. Manage time effectively, prioritizing and delegating work, as required.
48. Assess needs, decide priorities, and organize, monitor, and evaluate the provision of an efficient and effective therapy service, in liaison with the Head of Therapy.
49. Read and implement all policies, procedures, and risk assessments, pertinent to working practice and keep up to date with policy changes as they occur.
50. Critically evaluate new intervention methods and implement where appropriate.
51. Critically evaluate practice through clinical audits and by appraisal of the information gained, in combination with current knowledge of evidence-based practice; identify opportunities for service improvement and development.
52. Recognize and critically appraise situations where the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of the service are compromised and take appropriate action to resolve the situation.
53. Critically reflect on own performance and that of other staff; use this evaluation to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of future practice.
54. Actively participate in local clinical governance activities.
55. Undergo the Children's Trust Risk Assessor training, to ensure that all activities are risk-assessed and documented in the most appropriate format. Ensure that detailed risk assessments are completed, as required.
56. Undertake all mandatory training, in line with the Children's Trust policies.
57. Independently advance personal knowledge, understanding, and skills, in line with identified learning needs, by making appropriate use of a variety of learning and development resources and opportunities, by attending courses/lectures, contact, and involvement with relevant special interest groups, and/or visiting other departments.
58. Develop and deliver external training courses in the area of specialization, where potential demand is identified.
59. Disseminate and ensure the embedding of relevant new practice, through attendance at and contributing to in-service education, Literature Reviews, mentoring, and shared sessions.
60. Record outcomes of learning activities, in a format that reflects personal preferences and professional requirements, in line with the RCSLT competencies for dysphagia and tracheostomies.
61. Take an active part in the training of junior colleagues and lead the development of Reflective Practice in others.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• RCSLT recognized degree or postgraduate diploma in Speech and Language Therapy.
• HCPC registration.
• Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy.
• Dysphagia competency to Level C (RCSLT Competencies).
• Recent relevant training with respect to Augmentative and Alternative.
• Willing to participate in any relevant training identified to develop skills required to carry out duties, including extended role activities.
• Maintains a portfolio of CPD in line with regulatory body standards.

Desirable

• Postgraduate Diploma or Masters or currently enrolled in Masters.
• Communication (AAC) and understanding of a wide range of AAC relevant to service users with complex communication needs.
• Tracheostomy Competency trained or willing to train to meet Core Competencies and Paediatric competencies (RCSLT).

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Knowledge of a wide range of speech and language therapy management for neurodisability supported by advanced clinical reasoning.
• Knowledge of a wide range of approaches and application of techniques for the management of complex children with disabilities.
• Highly specialized observation and treatment skills relevant to the assessment of respiratory needs.
• Ability to meet the physical demands of a speech and language therapist.
• Attention to detail.
• Professional integrity, particularly in clinical governance.
• Commitment to working flexibly to meet the needs of the service.
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills.
• Competent in supporting junior staff in developing dysphagia skills.
• Analytical and creative problem-solving skills in unpredictable situations, synthesizing a variety of evidence, and presenting this in a relevant format report; presentation.
• Workload management, including delegation of tasks and day-to-day team leadership.
• Competent IT skills in order to collect and interpret data, present reports, and compile presentations in a range of contexts.
• Advanced verbal, non-verbal, and written communication skills, including communicating complex or potentially distressing information to parents/carers and managing conflict when appropriate.
• Reflective practice skills able to give clear and effective feedback and support others to develop.
• Develop and lead clinical audit within specialist clinical areas.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Commitment to the vision and values of the Children's Trust.
• Flexible and can-do attitude to competing commitments in workload.
• Highly motivated and reliable.
• Ability to cope working in a demanding environment.

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of dysphagia assessment and management.
• Competent skills in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel.
• Understanding of physical, communication, behavioral, and emotional changes after acquired brain injury (ABI).
• Knowledge of current research, clinical audit, and service evaluation methods.
• Clinical assessment and intervention skills relevant to children and/or adults with neuro-disability.
• Clinical reasoning skills in predictable situations, analyzing a variety of evidence, and presenting this in a relevant format report; presentation.
• Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding children and young people with complex disabilities.
• Understanding of physical, communication, behavioral, and emotional changes after acquired brain injury (ABI).
• Commitment to the vision and values of the Children's Trust.
• Flexible and can-do attitude to competing commitments in workload. Highly motivated and reliable.

Desirable

• Knowledge of tracheostomy impact on speaking; secretions and swallowing; and knowledge of management of tracheostomy care and weaning.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of five years clinical experience post basic qualification.
• Minimum clinical experience of two years working in Dysphagia.
• Minimum clinical experience of three years working in Paediatrics or neurodisability.
• Worked within a multidisciplinary team and a specialist school setting.
• Worked with children and families.
• Experience of service development and quality improvement.
• Experience of SEND legislation and SENDist tribunals.

Desirable

• Minimum clinical experience of two years working in tracheostomy care.
• Experience of leading a team and change management.
• Experience undertaking a research study or audit.