Paediatric Audiologist

We are looking for an enthusiastic and well-motivated paediatric audiologist to join our large, friendly, multi-disciplinary paediatric audiology team.

This mainly clinical role will keep you busy with a full range of paediatric assessments and (re)habilitation challenges, together with some service development responsibilities. The role will offer the opportunity to grow and develop as a paediatric audiologist as part of a team that strives to continually improve.

As Paediatric Audiologist you will be responsible for both leading and assisting on behavioural hearing assessment clinics for children aged 6 months and above. You will also be responsible for new paediatric hearing aid fittings and routine hearing aid reviews.

Alongside our main site at St Thomas' we run regular clinics at our satellite sites in Gracefield Gardens (Lambeth), Sunshine House (Southwark) and Kaleidoscope (Lewisham). The majority of the clinical team work compressed hours (08:00-18:00) across 4 days, and typically the post holder would be based at St Thomas' 2-3 days a week and at a satellite clinic 1-2 days a week. Following the COVID19 pandemic we have also embedded Remote Care into our clinical pathways offering team members the opportunity to occasionally work from home.

The Children & Young People's Audiology Centre in St Thomas' Hospital is recognised as a comprehensive non-consultant led audiological centre providing a high quality service for the children residing in South East London. We have developed an innovative specialist hearing assessment service for autistic and complex needs children known as Hummingbird Clinic and have involvement in a number of national and international research projects. The quality of the service has been acknowledged by being awarded the BAA team of year for 2018.

The service is a UKAS accredited medical diagnostic service No. 9980.

Professional/Clinical responsibilities
- To work independently as part of a multi-disciplinary team, within professional boundaries. To be ultimately accountable to the Clinical Lead and Head of Service, and to seek guidance from peers or senior staff whenever necessary.
- To carry out all audiological procedures according to national, professional and local protocols. To justify and document any contraindications or necessary deviation from protocol in the case notes and/or medical notes, seeking guidance on justification if required. To maintain empathy and rapport with the patient during testing to maximise the quality of test results and minimise patient anxiety including identifying the relevant concerns of the patient, any contraindications to procedures, and explaining and carrying out procedures.
- To undertake behavioural clinical assessments of hearing in children over 6 months of age, in line with departmental practice and protocols, using various behavioural test procedures, operating a comprehensive range of electromedical equipment and analysing and interpreting clinical data, under direct or remote supervision by more senior staff.
- To assist with electrophysiological assessments of auditory function in children of all ages, including neonates, using a wide range of electrophysiological test procedures in line with departmental practice and protocols and analysing and interpreting complex clinical data, under direct or remote supervision by more senior staff
- To assist in the selection, fitting and evaluation of personal hearing aids and other devices for hearing rehabilitation for children of all ages, in accordance with departmental practice and protocols, using digital hearing aid programming equipment and recognised fitting protocols, and exercising expert judgement to determine appropriate hearing aid settings for individual patients.
- To work with educational staff and staff of the hearing aid clinics of local acute units, to ensure that children's hearing aid systems are used to achieve the best outcomes.
- To refer to and work with other agencies in providing a co-ordinated programme of habilitation, support and advice for hearing‑impaired children and their families, taking into account their needs and preferred care options.
- To provide demonstrations, advice and counselling to the parents and families of hearing-impaired children and, where appropriate, the children themselves.
- To produce comprehensive and accurate reports for relevant professionals, educational services and parents, on the assessment and management of children seen by him or her.
- To maintain complete and accurate paper and electronic records about children seen by him or her on local and national databases.
- The postholder is required to work at any of the Paediatric Audiology Service community sites in line with the service needs

Management and Leadership
- To assist in the maintenance of the facilities and equipment of the Service, in line with departmental protocols and practice, and to report problems to senior staff.
- To assist in the collection