Job summary
The Michael Palin Centre (MPC) for Stammering Children is a national tertiary service and internationally recognised centre of excellence in stammering and cluttering, run by Whittington Health with charity support. Based in refurbished premises in central London, the MPC provides specialist assessment and therapy for children, young people and adults across the UK and internationally, alongside a global training programme and an active research department.
This rare opportunity is for a motivated Band 8a Senior SLT (0.8 WTE) with strong specialist knowledge in stammering and cluttering. We are seeking a clinician who brings expertise, leadership potential, and personal strengths that will enrich the team.
The role combines senior clinical practice, leadership, training delivery and research. The postholder will provide specialist input, second opinions, and supervision within the team and externally, contribute to national and international training, and participate in research, including conference presentations and publications. Ongoing development is supported through supervision and opportunities to pursue specialist interests.
Team working and wellbeing are central to the MPC. The role is primarily clinic-based with some home working depending on service needs. We welcome applications from therapists who stammer.
For further information please contact:
Sarah Delpeche, Head of the Michael Palin CentreEmail sarah.delpeche@nhs.net Telephone 020 3316 8100
Main duties of the job
Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. If you are unable to access the PDF, the details of the job description can also be found in the 'Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities' section.
About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trustbelieves that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Duties:
The postholder will have advanced knowledge, experience and skills in the field of stammering and cluttering and will have leadership aspirations to develop the work of the Michael Palin Centre, particularly in areas where the post holder has a special interest or skillset.
Expert Clinical Skills:
- To have an advanced specialist knowledge of current theoretical perspectives and research issues in the nature and treatment of stammering and cluttering in children, young people and adults, including a sound knowledge of the trends and status of evidence-based practice.
- To be an advanced specialist national resource in the clinical management of stammering and cluttering and their interrelated cognitive, affective and behavioural components as well as the implications of co-existing disorders of communication.
- To provide an advanced specialist tertiary consultation and second opinion service including the comprehensive assessment, differential diagnosis, prognosis and clinical management of children who stammer or clutter.
- To provide expert specialist speech and language therapy service with a caseload of children, young people and adults with complex stammering or cluttering requiring advanced specialist clinical and counselling skills.
- To reflect on expert clinical practice both individually and with peers, identifying strengths and needs and providing evidence of sound clinical judgements based on research and current knowledge of evidence-based practice.
- To keep abreast of current evidence base, ensuring that individualised treatment recommendations can be evaluated through standard outcome measures and those based on accepted expert opinion (e.g. RCSLT clinical guidelines)
- To participate at Clinical Excellence Network meetings, serving on committees as appropriate.
- To attend national and international conferences in person or online to liaise with colleagues in stuttering and cluttering.
Training and Research:
- To undertake, contribute and lead on research projects and clinical audits being carried out at the Centre.
- To take responsibility for the preparation and drafting of scholarly papers, scientific and/or conference presentations or workshops, articles, advisory leaflets and information sheets for clients, families, colleagues, and other professionals regarding the tertiary service and management of stammering and cluttering.
- To participate in the delivery and evaluation of the Centres national and international training/teaching programmes, webinars and workshops for the clinical management of children and young people who stammer or clutter and related communication and psychosocial problems.
- To deliver training programmes and workshops as commissioned by other organisations, e.g. Stuttering Foundation.
- Tooptimise the use of technology in the delivery of training, introducing new components, income generation models, additional functions e.g. caption translation.
Centre Profile and Leadership:
- To take a leading role in the profile of the Centre through active participation on committees, working parties and Clinical Excellence Networks in specialist areas of stammering and cluttering, nationally and internationally.
- To be an active part of the Senior Leadership Team, including cover in the absence of the Head of Centre and other Senior Leadership staff at the MPC.
- To negotiate with the other MPC Senior SLTs and Head of Centre in the planning and development of the MPC service and all related activity.
- In conjunction with the Head of Centre, the postholder will be responsible for supporting the day to day running of the Centre, supporting the team to carry out their duties providing support as required.
- The postholder will be expected to provide supervisory and/or Line management responsibilities within clinical and administrative team; including completion of appraisals as part of line management to identify staff and service development and training needs.
- To participate in staff selection and interview procedures as appropriate.
- To develop and extend working relationships with SLT colleagues and other key stakeholders, in support of effective clinical practice, maintaining the Centres relationships and developing further relationships that are supportive of the sustainability of the Centre.
- To ensure all relevant personal policies, administration and safety policies are adhered to for the team.
- To undertake any other reasonable duties as directed by and negotiated with the Head of Centre.
- To demonstrate high level negotiation skills across a range of issues.
- To take leadership responsibility for key aspects of the functioning of the Centre, to be agreed from the following range of responsibilities and duties: leading digitisation projects including managing and developing the website; developing and coordinating international trainee placements and schemes; overseeing the administration of the Centres intensive group therapy course programme; leading on income generating activity such as developing and overseeing the private therapy service and its systems; leading therapy funding applications and SLA quarterly reports. managing the Centre's tertiary assessment clinic including leadership of the Booking Team; leading workforce efficiency and productivity projects.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Duties:
The postholder will have advanced knowledge, experience and skills in the field of stammering and cluttering and will have leadership aspirations to develop the work of the Michael Palin Centre, particularly in areas where the post holder has a special interest or skillset.
Expert Clinical Skills:
- To have an advanced specialist knowledge of current theoretical perspectives and research issues in the nature and treatment of stammering and cluttering in children, young people and adults, including a sound knowledge of the trends and status of evidence-based practice.
- To be an advanced specialist national resource in the clinical management of stammering and cluttering and their interrelated cognitive, affective and behavioural components as well as the implications of co-existing disorders of communication.
- To provide an advanced specialist tertiary consultation and second opinion service including the comprehensive assessment, differential diagnosis, prognosis and clinical management of children who stammer or clutter.
- To provide expert specialist speech and language therapy service with a caseload of children, young people and adults with complex stammering or cluttering requiring advanced specialist clinical and counselling skills.
- To reflect on expert clinical practice both individually and with peers, identifying strengths and needs and providing evidence of sound clinical judgements based on research and current knowledge of evidence-based practice.
- To keep abreast of current evidence base, ensuring that individualised treatment recommendations can be evaluated through standard outcome measures and those based on accepted expert opinion (e.g. RCSLT clinical guidelines)
- To participate at Clinical Excellence Network meetings, serving on committees as appropriate.
- To attend national and international conferences in person or online to liaise with colleagues in stuttering and cluttering.
Training and Research:
- To undertake, contribute and lead on research projects and clinical audits being carried out at the Centre.
- To take responsibility for the preparation and drafting of scholarly papers, scientific and/or conference presentations or workshops, articles, advisory leaflets and information sheets for clients, families, colleagues, and other professionals regarding the tertiary service and management of stammering and cluttering.
- To participate in the delivery and evaluation of the Centres national and international training/teaching programmes, webinars and workshops for the clinical management of children and young people who stammer or clutter and related communication and psychosocial problems.
- To deliver training programmes and workshops as commissioned by other organisations, e.g. Stuttering Foundation.
- Tooptimise the use of technology in the delivery of training, introducing new components, income generation models, additional functions e.g. caption translation.
Centre Profile and Leadership:
- To take a leading role in the profile of the Centre through active participation on committees, working parties and Clinical Excellence Networks in specialist areas of stammering and cluttering, nationally and internationally.
- To be an active part of the Senior Leadership Team, including cover in the absence of the Head of Centre and other Senior Leadership staff at the MPC.
- To negotiate with the other MPC Senior SLTs and Head of Centre in the planning and development of the MPC service and all related activity.
- In conjunction with the Head of Centre, the postholder will be responsible for supporting the day to day running of the Centre, supporting the team to carry out their duties providing support as required.
- The postholder will be expected to provide supervisory and/or Line management responsibilities within clinical and administrative team; including completion of appraisals as part of line management to identify staff and service development and training needs.
- To participate in staff selection and interview procedures as appropriate.
- To develop and extend working relationships with SLT colleagues and other key stakeholders, in support of effective clinical practice, maintaining the Centres relationships and developing further relationships that are supportive of the sustainability of the Centre.
- To ensure all relevant personal policies, administration and safety policies are adhered to for the team.
- To undertake any other reasonable duties as directed by and negotiated with the Head of Centre.
- To demonstrate high level negotiation skills across a range of issues.
- To take leadership responsibility for key aspects of the functioning of the Centre, to be agreed from the following range of responsibilities and duties: leading digitisation projects including managing and developing the website; developing and coordinating international trainee placements and schemes; overseeing the administration of the Centres intensive group therapy course programme; leading on income generating activity such as developing and overseeing the private therapy service and its systems; leading therapy funding applications and SLA quarterly reports. managing the Centre's tertiary assessment clinic including leadership of the Booking Team; leading workforce efficiency and productivity projects.
Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential
- Post registration MSc with research component; or evidence of advanced skills development/qualifications in relevant field; or equivalent level of experience as senior clinical or academic level
- Post graduate training in psychological approaches
- Portfolio of additional training in stammering and cluttering
Desirable
- Registered CESS
- Evidence of leadership courses / training
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Ability to develop and deliver staff training programmes and conference presentations.
- Ability to keep abreast of national and international developments through active involvement in local, national and international networks.
Desirable
- Skills in research design and methodology including use of standardised frameworks for critical appraisal.
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- At least 5 years specialist experience in stammering and cluttering
- Extensive, up-to-date specialist knowledge of stammering and cluttering,
- Substantial experience providing clinical supervision to SLTs and/ or others, ensuring safe practice and reflective professional development.
Desirable
- Experience of service and quality improvement initiatives
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Excellent communication skills (active listening, turn taking, reflection, empathy)
- Excellent written communication skills (complex information for range of purposes)
- Ability to empower, support and motivate others
- Flexibility in responding to changing clinical and service needs
Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential
- Post registration MSc with research component; or evidence of advanced skills development/qualifications in relevant field; or equivalent level of experience as senior clinical or academic level
- Post graduate training in psychological approaches
- Portfolio of additional training in stammering and cluttering
Desirable
- Registered CESS
- Evidence of leadership courses / training
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Ability to develop and deliver staff training programmes and conference presentations.
- Ability to keep abreast of national and international developments through active involvement in local, national and international networks.
Desirable
- Skills in research design and methodology including use of standardised frameworks for critical appraisal.
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- At least 5 years specialist experience in stammering and cluttering
- Extensive, up-to-date specialist knowledge of stammering and cluttering,
- Substantial experience providing clinical supervision to SLTs and/ or others, ensuring safe practice and reflective professional development.
Desirable
- Experience of service and quality improvement initiatives
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Excellent communication skills (active listening, turn taking, reflection, empathy)
- Excellent written communication skills (complex information for range of purposes)
- Ability to empower, support and motivate others
- Flexibility in responding to changing clinical and service needs
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.
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).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
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).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
