East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

The closing date is 29 March 2026

Job summary

We have an exciting opportunity to become a speech and language therapy assistant in our friendly, innovative speech and language therapy (SLT) service, based in Ipswich Hospital. You will work with other multi-disciplinary teams including Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapists and Dietitians. You will work with people who are in hospital, primarily following a stroke, but also those with other neurological and acquired conditions. Our assistants play a vital role in carrying out daily rehabilitation plans for people with aphasia, dysarthria and cognitive-communication difficulties to maximise their potential to recover. The role also involves supporting families and carers.

Ipswich Hospital Speech and Language Therapy is part of a wider, integrated SLT service in East Suffolk which also supports people with communication and swallowing difficulties in their own home, in care homes, and in clinic for outpatient appointments. You may be asked to work flexibly across these service areas. In the hospital, you will work alongside members of the multi-disciplinary team including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, and doctors.

The service champions innovation and quality improvement and are committed to developing leadership skills for staff at all levels. We recently won the 'Making Better Use of our Resources' award at the Suffolk and North East Essex Can Do Health and Care awards, demonstrating our commitment to development and innovation

Main duties of the job

Under the direction of speech and language therapists, to deliver therapy programmes to clients with a variety of acquired communication problems including dysarthria and aphasia as a due to conditions such as stroke or progressive neurological conditions.
To deliver individualised swallowing interventions for individuals who have dysphagia, as directed by the speech & language therapists, including rehabilitation.
To assist with supporting nutrition and hydration in ward areas, by assisting clients during mealtimes, and working with Dietetic assistants to monitor compliance with eating, drinking and nutrition recommendations
To facilitate groups for clients with communication disorders.
To support with alternative augmentative communication (AAC).
To deal with face to face/telephone contact with clients with a range of communication impairments in a sensitive, professional manner.
To deliver basic communication/safe eating and drinking training and support to family carers and a range of staff groups. This may include joint working with the Dietetics team.
To collect relevant information through liaison with the patients, their carers and colleagues from other agencies.

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is thatTime Mattersto everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here -www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Date posted

13 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,937 to £26,598 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1408-25

Job locations

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of theresponsibilitiesand duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of theresponsibilitiesand duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NHS Care Certificate
GCSE Maths & English Language or equivalent
Evidence of completed competencies as part of a professional portfolio

Desirable

Qualified Associate Practitioner/ Nursing Associate diploma level or equivalent qualification e.g. NVQ3, or equivalent
Evidence of attendance at relevant courses, such as those related to communication or swallowing difficulties
Ability to travel to different places of work/driving licence

Experience

Essential

Experience of working in acute/community health care settings, or equivalent caring experience
Experience of liaising with other agencies or staff groups, or working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Experience of prioritising own work and problem solving
Experience of delivering training to groups

Desirable

Experience of working with people with acquired communication difficulties
Experience of working with people with eating/drinking/swallowing difficulties
Experience of working with adults with stroke/acquired neurological conditions
Experience of end of life care
Experience of person-centred planning/goal setting
Experience of using electronic patient recording systems

Knowledge

Essential

Knowledge of the wider needs of people with acquired neurological conditions
Knowledge of different methods of communication
Knowledge of range of communication difficulties experienced by people with a variety of medical reasons, such as stroke, and progressive neurological conditions
Knowledge of swallowing difficulties experienced by adults for a variety of medical reasons, such as stroke and cancer

Desirable

Knowledge of alternative/ augmentative communication systems (high and low tech)
Use of outcome measures
Knowledge of nutrition and hydration challenges seen in clients with neurological conditions/ frailty
Awareness of change in NHS

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NHS Care Certificate
GCSE Maths & English Language or equivalent
Evidence of completed competencies as part of a professional portfolio

Desirable

Qualified Associate Practitioner/ Nursing Associate diploma level or equivalent qualification e.g. NVQ3, or equivalent
Evidence of attendance at relevant courses, such as those related to communication or swallowing difficulties
Ability to travel to different places of work/driving licence

Experience

Essential

Experience of working in acute/community health care settings, or equivalent caring experience
Experience of liaising with other agencies or staff groups, or working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Experience of prioritising own work and problem solving
Experience of delivering training to groups

Desirable

Experience of working with people with acquired communication difficulties
Experience of working with people with eating/drinking/swallowing difficulties
Experience of working with adults with stroke/acquired neurological conditions
Experience of end of life care
Experience of person-centred planning/goal setting
Experience of using electronic patient recording systems

Knowledge

Essential

Knowledge of the wider needs of people with acquired neurological conditions
Knowledge of different methods of communication
Knowledge of range of communication difficulties experienced by people with a variety of medical reasons, such as stroke, and progressive neurological conditions
Knowledge of swallowing difficulties experienced by adults for a variety of medical reasons, such as stroke and cancer

Desirable

Knowledge of alternative/ augmentative communication systems (high and low tech)
Use of outcome measures
Knowledge of nutrition and hydration challenges seen in clients with neurological conditions/ frailty
Awareness of change in NHS

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.

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

Employer's website

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