Job summary
This is an on-site position at Southend Hospital - Remote work will not be considered. Applicants must be dysphagia competent and independent.
- To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.
- The post requires specialist skills in the management of patients with acquired communication disorders and/or dysphagia on the stroke unit or general acute wards.
- The post-holder is required to have experience in working with a wide range of patient types and/or have completed RCSLT Level C dysphagia competencies or equivalent dysphagia training.
- Take specialist interest in at least one defined area of the service or particular patient type: eg Stroke Acute Rehab, Neuro, CogNeuro, Palliative Care etc working without direct supervision.
- Participate in clinical audit, protocol development, objective-setting etc as required by the development of the SALT team.
- Deputise for the Clinical Lead/Band 7 as and when required to do so at meetings etc.
- Supervision takes the form of regular face to face meetings with your supervisor, clinical reasoning sessions, peer review, and team case discussions. Access to advice and support from a more senior SALT is available if required. Clinical work is not routinely evaluated.
- Supervise, educate and assess the performance of Band 5 SALTs and speech and language therapy students.
- Ensure that you work in a manner which helps to further long-term and short-term SALT team goals.
Main duties of the job
Comply with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
- Comply with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Standards of Proficiency & Conduct for speech and language therapists.
- Work within Trust, HCPC and Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists' guidelines and have a good working knowledge of national and local standards to enable monitoring own and others' quality of practice as appropriate.
- Be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in line with HCPC and RCSLT standards of practice.
- Become actively involved in professional clinical groups, such as the Journal Club, RCSLT Clinical Excellence Networks, Peer Review Groups and other professional development activities.
- Take a particular interest in at least one defined area of the service or particular patient type: eg Acute Stroke Rehab, Neuro, Cog/Neuro, Palliative Care etc so as to provide specialist care and to improve overall care delivery within the Trust for these patients.
- Represent, in the absence of more senior speech and language therapist, the speech and language therapy service and/or individual patients at multi-disciplinary team meetings, to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service, and integrate speech and language therapy treatment into the treatment programme. This will include discussion of patient care, patient progress and involvement in discharge planning.
About us
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is now one of the largest Trust in the country, serving a population of 1.2 million people. Our Trust, comprising acute hospital sites at Broomfield in Chelmsford, Basildon, and Southend, is determined to provide the best health services for its local population. We are a well-led, high-performing, and innovative organisation working in the best interests of the people we serve.
With a workforce of approximately 15,000 staff, we can now do more and go further in delivering health services to our local communities.
Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and wellbeing of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Communication
- Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
- Use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes.
- Liaise with health and social care professionals and other related statutory, private and voluntary organisations, providing written reports, recommendations and referrals when appropriate and assisting in mental capacity assessments for all patients with communication disorders.
- Be responsible for the safe and competent use of communication equipment by patients and by junior and student speech and language therapists, through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
- Deal sensitively with patients who have high levels of anxiety and aggression caused by pain, dementia or limited mobility.
- Able to communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and multidisciplinary team members / other professionals, in written and verbal form.
- Demonstrates empathy with clients, carers and families often where barriers to understanding exist ensuring that effective communication is achieved to persuade and motivate participation in therapeutic activities
- Analytical and Planning
- Undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients including those with diverse or complex presentations and multiple pathologies, seeking support from a more senior therapist as required; using acquired clinical reasoning skills and assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition and skills deficit.
- Formulate and deliver an individual speech and language therapy treatment plan based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment options.
- Ensure that your own practice and that of staff under your supervision meet the required professional standards of speech and language therapy practice.
- Undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence-based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, in conjunction with more senior speech and language therapists and develop improvement to service delivery and clinical practice.
- Undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further own and teams clinical practice.
- Clinical Duties
- To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care with communication difficulties.
- To construct clear care plans for a specific client group differentiating appropriate therapy from a range of options, based on analysis of information from assessment, theoretical knowledge and clinical benchmarking
- Formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best courses of intervention, developing comprehensive discharge plans.
- Evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes if required.
- Manage clinical risk within own patient caseload.
- Undertake training of nursing staff and others in various aspects of dysphagia assessment and management.
- Assist with Videofluoroscopy and FEES clinics as required.
- Take delegated responsibility from more senior speech and language therapists for managing patients with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist speech and language therapy assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
- Provide help and advice to patients and their families teaching and demonstrating use of equipment or other techniques to optimise the patients functional ability and independence.
- Manages own knowledge base as a member of relevant Special Interest Group and through reading and attendance at specialist short courses
- Policy and Service Development
- Be aware of departmental/hospital policies and procedures.
- Be aware of the requirement of the Health and Safety at Work act as it relates to the department and safety of the patients and staff.
- Participate in the staff appraisal scheme both as an appraisee and appraiser and be responsible for complying with your agreed personal development programmes to meet set knowledge and competencies.
- Be aware of the requirement of the Health and Safety at Work act as it relates to the department and safety of the patients and staff.
- Report all accidents/incidents promptly to a Senior Member of staff using the appropriate incident form.
- Comply with the Trust Manual Handling Policy and local therapeutic handling guidance at all times.
- Able to work within infection control and health and safety guidelines in order to deal appropriately and sensitively with clients unpleasant physical conditions e.g. oral secretions, incontinence, exposure to body fluids, infectious conditions, encountered on a regular basis
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Communication
- Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
- Use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes.
- Liaise with health and social care professionals and other related statutory, private and voluntary organisations, providing written reports, recommendations and referrals when appropriate and assisting in mental capacity assessments for all patients with communication disorders.
- Be responsible for the safe and competent use of communication equipment by patients and by junior and student speech and language therapists, through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
- Deal sensitively with patients who have high levels of anxiety and aggression caused by pain, dementia or limited mobility.
- Able to communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and multidisciplinary team members / other professionals, in written and verbal form.
- Demonstrates empathy with clients, carers and families often where barriers to understanding exist ensuring that effective communication is achieved to persuade and motivate participation in therapeutic activities
- Analytical and Planning
- Undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients including those with diverse or complex presentations and multiple pathologies, seeking support from a more senior therapist as required; using acquired clinical reasoning skills and assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition and skills deficit.
- Formulate and deliver an individual speech and language therapy treatment plan based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment options.
- Ensure that your own practice and that of staff under your supervision meet the required professional standards of speech and language therapy practice.
- Undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence-based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, in conjunction with more senior speech and language therapists and develop improvement to service delivery and clinical practice.
- Undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further own and teams clinical practice.
- Clinical Duties
- To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care with communication difficulties.
- To construct clear care plans for a specific client group differentiating appropriate therapy from a range of options, based on analysis of information from assessment, theoretical knowledge and clinical benchmarking
- Formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best courses of intervention, developing comprehensive discharge plans.
- Evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes if required.
- Manage clinical risk within own patient caseload.
- Undertake training of nursing staff and others in various aspects of dysphagia assessment and management.
- Assist with Videofluoroscopy and FEES clinics as required.
- Take delegated responsibility from more senior speech and language therapists for managing patients with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist speech and language therapy assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
- Provide help and advice to patients and their families teaching and demonstrating use of equipment or other techniques to optimise the patients functional ability and independence.
- Manages own knowledge base as a member of relevant Special Interest Group and through reading and attendance at specialist short courses
- Policy and Service Development
- Be aware of departmental/hospital policies and procedures.
- Be aware of the requirement of the Health and Safety at Work act as it relates to the department and safety of the patients and staff.
- Participate in the staff appraisal scheme both as an appraisee and appraiser and be responsible for complying with your agreed personal development programmes to meet set knowledge and competencies.
- Be aware of the requirement of the Health and Safety at Work act as it relates to the department and safety of the patients and staff.
- Report all accidents/incidents promptly to a Senior Member of staff using the appropriate incident form.
- Comply with the Trust Manual Handling Policy and local therapeutic handling guidance at all times.
- Able to work within infection control and health and safety guidelines in order to deal appropriately and sensitively with clients unpleasant physical conditions e.g. oral secretions, incontinence, exposure to body fluids, infectious conditions, encountered on a regular basis
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree or equivalent in Speech and Language Therapy
- Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council
- Completion of Formal Dysphagia course, or competency framework
- Completion of RCSLT NQP competency framework or equivalent
Desirable
- Member of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Minimum 12 Months experience working with adults with acquired swallowing and communication disorders
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Experience with teaching and training
- Knowledge of evidence-based assessment tools & Therapeutic interventions
- Ability to construct clear care plans for patient caseload
- Ability to prioritise workload demands
Desirable
- Experience of working with an adult Stroke caseload
- Experience of working with an adult neuro caseload
- Attendance at training events in other SLT specialities
- Specialist knowledge underpinned by current evidence based practice
- Knowledge of cultural & linguistic issues in working with a multi-cultural caseload
- Good presentation skills, both written and verbal
Communication Skills
Essential
- Excellent Interpersonal Skills
- Negotiation and problem-solving skills
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree or equivalent in Speech and Language Therapy
- Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council
- Completion of Formal Dysphagia course, or competency framework
- Completion of RCSLT NQP competency framework or equivalent
Desirable
- Member of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Minimum 12 Months experience working with adults with acquired swallowing and communication disorders
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Experience with teaching and training
- Knowledge of evidence-based assessment tools & Therapeutic interventions
- Ability to construct clear care plans for patient caseload
- Ability to prioritise workload demands
Desirable
- Experience of working with an adult Stroke caseload
- Experience of working with an adult neuro caseload
- Attendance at training events in other SLT specialities
- Specialist knowledge underpinned by current evidence based practice
- Knowledge of cultural & linguistic issues in working with a multi-cultural caseload
- Good presentation skills, both written and verbal
Communication Skills
Essential
- Excellent Interpersonal Skills
- Negotiation and problem-solving skills
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).
