Band 7 Neonatal Unit Speech and Language Therapist

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

This job is now closed

Job summary

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital is a 32 bedded unit, with 12 Critical Care cots and 20 Special Care cots. In addition there is a 7 bedded Transitional Care Unit (TCU). The NICU is partnered with a Special Care Unit at Good Hope Hospital. Over 10,000 babies are delivered within the Trust a year with around 6500 deliveries at Heartlands site. Heartlands has a busy NICU, serving a diverse local population as it aims to provide the intensive and high dependency care for all 10000 babies born within the Trust. NICU sees around 850 admissions; providing medical care for babies of all gestations. The unit is the designated network cooling centre.

The post holder will work closely with members of the MDT team and also the West Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network. Although, predominantly based at Heartland Hospital however some travel to Good Hope Hospital will be required.

We are looking for a speech and language therapist with clinical experience in paediatric speech and language therapy who can demonstrate they can manage a caseload of patients within the neonatal service. For applicants with transferable skills we would consider a development opportunity, starting at Band 6.

We are committed to supporting ongoing personal and professional development.

For further information contact: Amina Power Clinical Team Lead, amina.power@uhb.nhs.uk or Claire Howell, Therapy Lead Paediatrics, claire.howell@uhb.nhs.uk

Main duties of the job

To provide SLT assessment, treatment and management focusing on communication, feeding development, and swallowing difficulties at a Level 3 Neonatal Unit (NICU) Birmingham Heartlands Hospital and Level 1 Special Care Unit (SCU) at Good Hope Hospital.

To be responsible for the development and leadership of the SLT service for neonates, prioritising clinical needs to provide an effective, efficient service.

To demonstrate professionalism, MDT working, advanced knowledge and skills to manage, triage and prioritise a caseload, including highly complex and specialist cases, evidencing advanced problem solving, reasoning skills and clinical judgement, including all SLT referrals at both units, NICU (Level 3) and SCU (Level 1).

High level of clinical knowledge of prematurity, congenital conditions, and birth difficulties for the neonate.

Refer to community SLT services and signpost to relevant services upon discharge.

To demonstrate highly level clinical reasoning skills for SLT assessment for neonates and their family, assessing needs, ensuring high quality specialist SLT assessment and treatment to support safe and positive feeding and communication development to prevent aspiration, longer term sensory based feeding difficulties and to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes.

To attend relevant meetings and ward rounds to discuss care of babies and service provision, including relevant WMNODN meetings and working groups e.g., nutrition and Families First working groups.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

Date posted

02 August 2023

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£43,742 to £50,056 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

304-48610YS

Job locations

Trustwide

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note*: For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note*: For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
Health and Care Professions Council --Licence to Practice(E)
Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists(E)
Evidence of relevant postgraduate training in neonates(E)

Experience

Essential

Specialist level of clinical skills and knowledge in the assessment, differential diagnosis, and management of complex paediatric feeding, swallowing and communication disorders. (E)
At least three years post-registration experience in dysphagia, including infants under 1 year, plus additional experience in core areas such as early communication (E)
Relevant postgraduate experience in the assessment and management of neonates(E)

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
Health and Care Professions Council --Licence to Practice(E)
Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists(E)
Evidence of relevant postgraduate training in neonates(E)

Experience

Essential

Specialist level of clinical skills and knowledge in the assessment, differential diagnosis, and management of complex paediatric feeding, swallowing and communication disorders. (E)
At least three years post-registration experience in dysphagia, including infants under 1 year, plus additional experience in core areas such as early communication (E)
Relevant postgraduate experience in the assessment and management of neonates(E)

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).