Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist

The closing date is 25 May 2025

Job summary

We are recruiting for a band 5 Speech and Language Therapist to work within Children's Speech and Language Therapy in St Helens Community Paediatric Service.

The successful candidate will work with children 0-18 with Speech, language and communication difficulties working to assess, treat and support clients and their carers to support their communication skills. Previous experience working with children and young people aged 0-18 year with Speech, Language and communication difficulties would be beneficial.

The post holder will work with a team of speech and language therapists and assistants to provide a high-quality speech and language therapy service to people with a variety of speech, language and communication difficulties in a range of education settings, clinics and clients' own homes.

They will work collaboratively with other agencies and carers to enable them to understand communication impairments and to provide appropriate support and intervention to the person and those involved in their care.

They will be supported to complete the requirements of the RCSLT competencies.

Main duties of the job

Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full description of this role.

Clinically, the post holder will assess children with Speech, language and communication difficulties, supporting differential diagnosis where appropriate. They will provide relevant therapeutic intervention and support and provide Speech and Language Therapy care plans and reports as required.

The post holder will receive regular clinical supervision, group supervision and line management support from their more experienced Speech and Language Therapy colleagues.

The post holder will be responsible for their own caseload management with support from their supervisor and line manager, who would also be experienced Speech and Language Therapists.

The post holder would be expected to maintain registration and membership of RCSLT and HCPC, taking an active role in their own professional development and individual performance review (appraisal) process.

The post holder would be expected to take part in training delivered by the team.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Details

Date posted

08 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

350-CC7182927

Job locations

Ashtons Green Clinic

Ashtons Green Drive

St Helens

WA9 2AP


Job description

Job responsibilities

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist to join our friendly and supportive Speech and Language Therapy Team in St Helens, where we are based at Ashtons Green Clinic St Helens

We are looking for a creative, innovative Speech and Language Therapist with excellent interpersonal skills and the enthusiasm to communicate the importance of speech, language and communication within our local communities.

The successful candidate will work with a school-age caseload across a combination of locations; mainstream schools, nursery settings and community clinics They will assess, diagnose and treat a wide range of speech, language and communication needs in children.

Evidence-based practice to support parents and the wider childrens workforce to develop childrens speech, language and communication skills in an inclusive environment is essential to this role. This will include providing formal training and informal coaching sessions at clinic, the childs home or educational setting.

An awareness of a person-centred approach to assessment, intervention and support is assumed. An active role in the development and delivery of training is also required. The successful candidate will be expected to supervise Speech and Language Therapy Assistants, carrying out advisory visits and specialist visits as necessary. You can expect to be supported and mentored by the Specialist, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapists and the Team Manager.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist to join our friendly and supportive Speech and Language Therapy Team in St Helens, where we are based at Ashtons Green Clinic St Helens

We are looking for a creative, innovative Speech and Language Therapist with excellent interpersonal skills and the enthusiasm to communicate the importance of speech, language and communication within our local communities.

The successful candidate will work with a school-age caseload across a combination of locations; mainstream schools, nursery settings and community clinics They will assess, diagnose and treat a wide range of speech, language and communication needs in children.

Evidence-based practice to support parents and the wider childrens workforce to develop childrens speech, language and communication skills in an inclusive environment is essential to this role. This will include providing formal training and informal coaching sessions at clinic, the childs home or educational setting.

An awareness of a person-centred approach to assessment, intervention and support is assumed. An active role in the development and delivery of training is also required. The successful candidate will be expected to supervise Speech and Language Therapy Assistants, carrying out advisory visits and specialist visits as necessary. You can expect to be supported and mentored by the Specialist, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapists and the Team Manager.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree level qualification in Speech and Language Therapy
  • Registration with Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) or in the process of obtaining registration if newly qualified

Desirable

  • Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Experience of assessing and diagnosing speech, language and communication difficulties
  • Knowledge of Speech and Language Therapy assessments and appropriate experience of using assessments
  • Evidence of good IT skills including the use of a range of software (including symbol software packages)
  • Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills both written and verbal
  • Experience of working in a paediatric setting
  • Knowledge of current key RCSLT and national developments and policies driving current practice
  • Exposure to local, National, professional policies/guidance eg Mental Capacity Act Vulnerable Adults Procedure and Child Protection

Desirable

  • Experience of managing a Speech and Language Therapy caseload (with supervision)
  • Experience of working with children as applicable to the role
  • Experience of delivering/developing training to staff/carers
  • Experience of facilitating groups

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work with service users who exhibit behaviours that may be considered challenging appropriate training
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honest

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree level qualification in Speech and Language Therapy
  • Registration with Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) or in the process of obtaining registration if newly qualified

Desirable

  • Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Experience of assessing and diagnosing speech, language and communication difficulties
  • Knowledge of Speech and Language Therapy assessments and appropriate experience of using assessments
  • Evidence of good IT skills including the use of a range of software (including symbol software packages)
  • Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills both written and verbal
  • Experience of working in a paediatric setting
  • Knowledge of current key RCSLT and national developments and policies driving current practice
  • Exposure to local, National, professional policies/guidance eg Mental Capacity Act Vulnerable Adults Procedure and Child Protection

Desirable

  • Experience of managing a Speech and Language Therapy caseload (with supervision)
  • Experience of working with children as applicable to the role
  • Experience of delivering/developing training to staff/carers
  • Experience of facilitating groups

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work with service users who exhibit behaviours that may be considered challenging appropriate training
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honest

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented

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.

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.

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

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashtons Green Clinic

Ashtons Green Drive

St Helens

WA9 2AP


Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashtons Green Clinic

Ashtons Green Drive

St Helens

WA9 2AP


Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Team Manager Speech and Language Therapist

Johanna Towers

johanna.towers3@merseycare.nhs.uk

07385461161

Details

Date posted

08 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

350-CC7182927

Job locations

Ashtons Green Clinic

Ashtons Green Drive

St Helens

WA9 2AP


Supporting documents

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