Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

The closing date is 06 November 2025

Job summary

This is an exciting new post providing a unique opportunity to support the development of the Speech and Language Therapy provision in a young offenders prison within the South London forensic services. We are looking for a speech and language therapist to join our rich MDT and contribute to the SLT pathway within our mental health care provision in a challenging but rewarding environment.

Main duties of the job

Clinical:

  • To work as a member of the Integrated Mental Health Team at HMP/YOI Isis.
  • To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and case closure of service users.
  • To be professionally accountable for own caseload, working autonomously in a variety of settings.
  • To act as lead professional for those on the allocated caseload.
  • To undertake speech and language assessments of service users based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of information from a variety of sources including formal and informal assessment, observation and interviews with service users, and others involved in the service user's care.

About us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

  • We're Kind
  • We're Fair
  • We Listen
  • We Care

Details

Date posted

23 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£44,485 to £52,521 a year pa inc

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

277-7491071-ISIS

Job locations

HMP Isis

London

SE28 0FD


Job description

Job responsibilities

  • To provide timely and accurate reports that provide a diagnosis, assessment and recommendations and comply with best practice guidelines.
  • To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the communication assessment, formulation and treatment plans of service users and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
  • To work with service users and other members of the MDT to achieve identified goals and to promote social inclusion, independence and well-being. 10. To develop accessible information in order to support service users where required.
  • To formulate and implement treatment programmes for the management of service users communication needs and provide advice to service users with communication difficulties.
  • To develop and implement individual and /or group interventions, in collaboration with service users and the MDT to achieve therapeutic goals.
  • To engage the service user in therapeutic activities and encourage and support them to achieve their identified goals.
  • To monitor and evaluate treatment in order to measure progress and modify treatment plans to ensure effectiveness of clinical interventions.
  • To participate in the clinical decision-making process regarding service user care programmes as part of the MDT.
  • To attend relevant case conferences and MDT meetings.
  • To plan own workload, managing competing demands to ensure care is delivered according to clinical priority.
  • To seek second opinions and highly specialist advice where necessary. Including onward referral for dysphagia assessment.
  • To participate in MDT team meetings, promote multi-professional links and play a full role in local initiatives.
  • To undertake specialist SLT assessments particularly with men with SLCN and neurodivergent needs.
  • To contribute to and support the diagnostic pathways for ASD and other neurodivergent needs.
Teaching, training and supervision:
  • To receive regular professional clinical supervision from a senior SLT clinician.
  • To prepare for and participate in an annual job appraisal.
  • To contribute to and support training and education in speech, language and communication needs to other clinical staff, non-clinical staff, students, prison officers and other prison partnership agencies as appropriate.
  • To contribute to professional and clinical supervision of any junior members of the speech and language therapy service such as assistants, students, and volunteers.
  • To form links with other Speech and Language Therapists who work in the areas of mental health, learning disabilities and forensic.
Management and Service development
  • From time to time carry out duties, appropriate to grade and experience, which may reasonably be requested by the Clinical Service Manager, Head of Therapies, SLT Professional lead or Highly specialist speech and language therapist within the prison.
  • To manage their own workload and support the management of workload of junior staff, assistants and students, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures.
  • Attend and actively contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings, speech and language therapy staff meetings, relevant Clinical Excellence Network groups, in-service training and implement any action plans related to these meetings.
  • To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the in-service MDTs operational policies and services through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users in relation to their communication difficulties and to provide advice to other professionals on communication aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
General and Administrative Responsibilities
  • Maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with relevant professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.
  • To use computer software/packages to write reports, record data and send and receive e-mails.
  • Undertake administrative tasks in relation to own work.
  • Prepare informal assessment material, therapeutic material, teaching materials and other speech and language therapy service literature
  • Write letters and reports on service users progress for distribution to relevant professionals.
  • Contribute to MDT reports.
  • Record information required for statistical purposes in an accurate and timely manner.
Research and service evaluation
  • Keep up to date with new developments in the field, critically evaluating available research and disseminating information to inform evidence-based practice.
  • Maintain a personal professional profile of learning activity in compliance with professional body requirements.
  • To undertake project management, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Equipment
  • To be responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment/resources ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained, including equipment loaned to clients.
  • To have a personal duty of care to ensure all equipment is used safely and effectively following manufacturers instructions and reporting any defects in accordance with local procedures.
General
  • It is inevitable that the post holder will be required to deal with distressed people and find themselves in challenging and / or risky situations as they will be working with people with learning disability and mental health problems / challenging behaviours.
  • To carry out effective assessment and management of risk in all relevant settings.
  • To ensure the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the potholders service manager.
  • To maintain professional registration with the appropriate bodies. This includes being aware of, and complying with, the policy and requirements of those professional bodies. It is your responsibility to ensure that your registration is renewed when necessary and that you formally confirm all renewals with your manager.
  • To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.
  • To meet the requirements of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) appropriate outline for the post.
  • To have a duty of care to yourself and to others with whom you come into contact in the course of your work as laid down in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any subsequent amendment or legislation.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation

Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID

Proof of address documentation

Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be soughtfrom:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

Job description

Job responsibilities

  • To provide timely and accurate reports that provide a diagnosis, assessment and recommendations and comply with best practice guidelines.
  • To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the communication assessment, formulation and treatment plans of service users and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
  • To work with service users and other members of the MDT to achieve identified goals and to promote social inclusion, independence and well-being. 10. To develop accessible information in order to support service users where required.
  • To formulate and implement treatment programmes for the management of service users communication needs and provide advice to service users with communication difficulties.
  • To develop and implement individual and /or group interventions, in collaboration with service users and the MDT to achieve therapeutic goals.
  • To engage the service user in therapeutic activities and encourage and support them to achieve their identified goals.
  • To monitor and evaluate treatment in order to measure progress and modify treatment plans to ensure effectiveness of clinical interventions.
  • To participate in the clinical decision-making process regarding service user care programmes as part of the MDT.
  • To attend relevant case conferences and MDT meetings.
  • To plan own workload, managing competing demands to ensure care is delivered according to clinical priority.
  • To seek second opinions and highly specialist advice where necessary. Including onward referral for dysphagia assessment.
  • To participate in MDT team meetings, promote multi-professional links and play a full role in local initiatives.
  • To undertake specialist SLT assessments particularly with men with SLCN and neurodivergent needs.
  • To contribute to and support the diagnostic pathways for ASD and other neurodivergent needs.
Teaching, training and supervision:
  • To receive regular professional clinical supervision from a senior SLT clinician.
  • To prepare for and participate in an annual job appraisal.
  • To contribute to and support training and education in speech, language and communication needs to other clinical staff, non-clinical staff, students, prison officers and other prison partnership agencies as appropriate.
  • To contribute to professional and clinical supervision of any junior members of the speech and language therapy service such as assistants, students, and volunteers.
  • To form links with other Speech and Language Therapists who work in the areas of mental health, learning disabilities and forensic.
Management and Service development
  • From time to time carry out duties, appropriate to grade and experience, which may reasonably be requested by the Clinical Service Manager, Head of Therapies, SLT Professional lead or Highly specialist speech and language therapist within the prison.
  • To manage their own workload and support the management of workload of junior staff, assistants and students, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures.
  • Attend and actively contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings, speech and language therapy staff meetings, relevant Clinical Excellence Network groups, in-service training and implement any action plans related to these meetings.
  • To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the in-service MDTs operational policies and services through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users in relation to their communication difficulties and to provide advice to other professionals on communication aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
General and Administrative Responsibilities
  • Maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with relevant professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.
  • To use computer software/packages to write reports, record data and send and receive e-mails.
  • Undertake administrative tasks in relation to own work.
  • Prepare informal assessment material, therapeutic material, teaching materials and other speech and language therapy service literature
  • Write letters and reports on service users progress for distribution to relevant professionals.
  • Contribute to MDT reports.
  • Record information required for statistical purposes in an accurate and timely manner.
Research and service evaluation
  • Keep up to date with new developments in the field, critically evaluating available research and disseminating information to inform evidence-based practice.
  • Maintain a personal professional profile of learning activity in compliance with professional body requirements.
  • To undertake project management, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Equipment
  • To be responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment/resources ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained, including equipment loaned to clients.
  • To have a personal duty of care to ensure all equipment is used safely and effectively following manufacturers instructions and reporting any defects in accordance with local procedures.
General
  • It is inevitable that the post holder will be required to deal with distressed people and find themselves in challenging and / or risky situations as they will be working with people with learning disability and mental health problems / challenging behaviours.
  • To carry out effective assessment and management of risk in all relevant settings.
  • To ensure the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the potholders service manager.
  • To maintain professional registration with the appropriate bodies. This includes being aware of, and complying with, the policy and requirements of those professional bodies. It is your responsibility to ensure that your registration is renewed when necessary and that you formally confirm all renewals with your manager.
  • To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.
  • To meet the requirements of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) appropriate outline for the post.
  • To have a duty of care to yourself and to others with whom you come into contact in the course of your work as laid down in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any subsequent amendment or legislation.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation

Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID

Proof of address documentation

Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be soughtfrom:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Relevant experience of assessment and intervention

Qualifications

Essential

  • Qualified Speech and Language Therapist

Skills and knowledge

Essential

  • Multidisciplinary team working
  • Effective communication skills
  • Risk management
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Relevant experience of assessment and intervention

Qualifications

Essential

  • Qualified Speech and Language Therapist

Skills and knowledge

Essential

  • Multidisciplinary team working
  • Effective communication skills
  • Risk management

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).

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.

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

HMP Isis

London

SE28 0FD


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

HMP Isis

London

SE28 0FD


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Emily Chitty

emily.chitty4@nhs.net

Details

Date posted

23 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£44,485 to £52,521 a year pa inc

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

277-7491071-ISIS

Job locations

HMP Isis

London

SE28 0FD


Supporting documents

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