Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Job summary

Are you passionate about working with children with complex or additional needs including autism?

Do you have experience working with pre-school and school-aged children?

With a strong ethos of clinical support and supervision, our dynamic team provides evidence-based advice, training and interventions to children and young people. We give children what they need, when they need it. Our aim is to change the lives of children and young people with communication difficulties across Norfolk and Waveney.

The successful candidates will specialise in working with children with additional needs, and work in the community with both pre-school and school-age children.

Please note that should we receive a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the advert earlier than advertised.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for first class clinicians with strong communication and interpersonal skills to join our friendly and welcoming team. The successful candidates will specialise in working with children with additional needs and work in the community with both pre-school and school-age children.

If you join our team, you will:

-Receive high quality support and supervision from your locality coordinator and your area lead, as well as from clinical specialists and wider team members-Provide direct therapy to children who need it, when they need it-Work with children with a range of needs with a person-centred approach to supervision, meaning that senior clinical specialists are available to support you depending on your own confidence and experience-Access in-house training which aims to meet your needs and interests-Receive the NHS annual leave entitlement which can be taken flexibly in the year

About us

Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.

There's one reason why our services are outstanding - and that's our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.

If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

To independently manage a specialist caseload of pre-school and school age children who have speech, language and communication difficulties

To undertake a range of assessments, both standardised and non-standardised, taking account of medical, social and educational factors, which combined with specialist theoretical knowledge will lead to differential diagnosis

To plan, deliver and evaluate specialist intervention following professional guidelines and agreed service standards

As part of that process, to be able to plan appropriate long term and short term goals working towards discharge

To undertake administrative duties connected with the caseload including maintenance of case notes and provision of written reports, following service standards

To ensure that all work is carried out in close collaboration with all those involved in childrens care so that the approach to intervention and support is co-ordinated and comprehensive

To identify when there is a need for a second opinion, referring to senior colleagues or SLT specialists as appropriate

To make onward referral as appropriate

To identify any variations to service delivery or demands and inform the Locality Co-ordinator and Area & Clinical Lead of the likely impact on the service

Policy & Service development

To participate in development of policy, clinical guidelines, clinical governance and service development through discussion and involvement in projects as appropriate, including innovative practice, in collaboration with senior colleagues

Responsibility for specific, clearly defined projects as delegated by the Locality Co-ordinator

To be familiar with local and national standards and to work in line with these

To ensure that parents/carers are aware of the standards they should expect from the speech and language therapy service

Communication

To ensure effective communication of complex condition-related information to parents/carers regarding the assessment process, assessment findings and planned intervention, including engagement of parents/carers in intervention

To ensure children are involved in goal setting and decision making around their own care as appropriate to their age, developmental level and language skills

To ensure parents/carers are involved in decision making around their childs care including discharge from the service

To liaise effectively and work in partnership with other professionals (particularly teachers and teaching assistants), including the development of shared goals for intervention

To write reports on children, in line with service standards, including contributions to statutory assessment

To offer advice to others concerning support for individual children

To actively contribute to case conferences/ review meetings for children on the caseload

To recognise how and when information may be shared within the bounds of confidentiality and the Data Protection Act

To attend SLT team meetings, actively contributing as appropriate

Contribute to CCS internal communication strategies ensuring effective two-way communication and engagement within the organisation

Contribute to CCS external communication strategies working with the Head of Communications to raise awareness and promote the reputation of CCS services

Patient and Public Engagement

To contribute to ensuring that CCS responsibilities to engage and consult with patients and the public are met in line with statutory requirements

Training

To participate in training other professionals/ parents as appropriate

To identify training needs in the multi-disciplinary team needed to support the care of children on the caseload

To attend all Trust mandatory training

People Management

To access and accept clinical supervision from senior or specialist colleagues in line with service policy

To supervise and clinically support SLT assistants/ teaching assistants/volunteers as appropriate

To mentor newly qualified SLTs providing support and contributing to induction with guidance from more senior colleagues

To provide clinical placements for SLT students including contributing to the assessment of exam placements

Maintaining own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and KSF process

Research & Development Activity

To maintain and update skills and knowledge in relevant areas

To develop and monitor own clinical expertise in specialist area through planned CPD

To participate in service audit and projects as agreed with the Area & Clinical Lead

To actively reflect on practice with peers and more senior colleagues to promote professional development and evidence based decision making

To be advised on developments in current practice by more senior colleagues

Clinical and Practice Governance

Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act

Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies

The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes

The post holder must adhere to infection control policies and procedures

It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with HCPC and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration

Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.

The post holder must participate in clinical and other audits as required

Provide patients and their families /carers with information on standards they should expect from the team

Participate in Clinical and Safeguarding supervision on a regular basis

The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Degree or Postgraduate equivalent in Speech and Language Therapy Registered Member of RCSLT Registered Member of HCPC Evidence of successful completion of short specialist courses

Desirable

Evidence of commitment to CPD Membership of relevant Clinical Excellence Network

Experience

Essential

Experience of developing and delivering training Recent and comprehensive experience working in community clinics, schools and pre-schools Experience of working in a range of multi-agency settings and with interagency teams

Desirable

Previous experience supervising less experienced colleagues Experience of advising/providing further opinions

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

Well established knowledge about developmental speech and language disorders In-depth knowledge of a broad range of assessment procedures relevant to the client group Knowledge of best practice and developing trends in clinical specialism

Desirable

Working in a mainstream school with children who have complex communication needs Previous experience of working with children with complex speech disorders Ability to use various Microsoft programmes to collect data, prepare reports and presentations Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc

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