Children's Speech and Language Therapist - Paediatric Dysphagia

Job overview

Band 6 Specialist Children’s Speech and Language Therapist (Community Dysphagia Team)     0.4 wte permanent

Base:   Warwick, covering South Warwickshire, Rugby and North Warwickshire as required.

****If you are an external candidate you will need to view this vacancy along with another that is live called ‘Band 6 Specialist Children’s Speech and Language Therapist (Special School Team) 0.4 wte permanent’ and apply and be successful for both to be able to take up the posts.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Speech and Language Therapist, with an official qualification to post basic level with significant, broad experience working in paediatric dysphagia to join our Community Speech and Language Therapy Service.

Working within a small supportive Paediatric Dysphagia Team led by Highly Specialist SLT, across Educational and Domiciliary settings.

With full access to supervision, you will manage your own caseload.  Your role will be to assess, provide advice and on-going management for children and young people with dysphagia between 1 and 19yrs of age. For suitably qualified and experienced candidates there may also be the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills to work with children under 1.

You will also provide training in Paediatric Dysphagia to parents, school staff and other professionals.

Car driver essential

Interviews : Thursday 7th November 2024

Main duties of the job

Independently assess and manage children’s eating & drinking difficulties

Deliver training to parents, school staff and other professionals

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

To exercise full responsibility for a designated caseload of children between 1 and 19yrs.

To use highly developed interpersonal skills to facilitate communication so that the needs of the child and family are central to the clinical process

Play a pivotal role in ensuring effective joint working for children with eating and drinking difficulties and their families

To prioritise own caseload and manage own workload effectively and efficiently.

To assess and analyse complex information related to children’s eating, drinking and swallowing skills using specialist knowledge to select appropriate methods of assessment of the child’s needs and abilities.

To formulate a diagnosis based upon assessment, case history information and information from family and other professionals.

To evaluate and make decisions about therapy options taking into account the child’s medical status, learning style and developmental level.

To formulate a detailed individual management plan based upon relevant research and best practice.

To agree options in collaboration with all those involved in order to implement the individual management plan ,which may include any combination of the following:

Therapeutic intervention with children individually or in groups (in school or clinic)

Programmes jointly planned and implemented with family, health and educational staff

Supporting others to implement programmes according to individual needs

Providing advice on individualised feeding plans in educational settings

Providing advice on specific strategies to employ in the educational setting and / or at home.

Advising referral to other professionals where indicated

To provide demonstration / training on how to maximise opportunities for the individual to develop their eating and drinking skills.

To provide individualised packages of care for children with a range of complex needs

To plan and deliver high quality training to enable settings to provide the optimum environment for achieving their potential with the development of their eating and drinking skills.

To manage children’s behaviour and motivate them to achieve positive therapy outcomes including those who have severe/complex difficulties or who may be challenging.

To recognise potential conflict or breakdown in the above process and use negotiation and problem solving skills to reach agreement.

To communicate complex and specialist information to others by way of written reports and face-to-face discussions, adapting own communication style and content to the needs of the situation.

To form productive relationships with families, recognising the need for and ensuring sensitivity and care where:

• There may be emotional stress
• Difficult or potentially distressing news to be given
• There are potential barriers to communication

To contribute to Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) including providing:

Assessment and support at the Targeted and Specialist level as set out in the Warwickshire SEND Provision Matrix

Specified and quantified advice for Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) as required by the SEND Code of Practice (2014) and Children & Families Act (2014)

To attend Annual Reviews and termly reviews of targets as required

To liaise with other professionals and teams in a consultative capacity in relation to management of individual children and attend and contribute to meetings involving parents and other professionals (e.g. case conferences, Annual Review of EHCP, etc)

To supervise and support SLTAs in undertaking programmes for individual children on caseload.

To work with other members of the local and countywide teams and members of other teams to achieve seamless, co-ordinated service provision.

To support the team in the development and provision of training / teaching packages.

To work collaboratively with a range of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals to provide high quality SLT services for children with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

To provide an information and advisory service both in relation to individual children and more generally in relation to eating and drinking issues related to children with special needs as required.

To liaise with SLT colleagues holding specialist caseloads.

To request advice / support and second opinions from more experienced / specialist colleagues if required

To provide advice to other SLT colleagues related to this specialized clinical field

To contribute to the development evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies including caseload prioritising decisions

To promote the role of SLT to visitors, students and volunteers

To support students from other professional groups as appropriate by providing discussion and observation experience

To act as clinical tutor for SLT students

To support recently qualified SLT colleagues in the role of mentor and informal clinical supervisor.

To utilise theory, evidence based literature and research to support evidence based practice.

To provide statistical information on own caseload, including activity, prioritisation and clinical outcome measures

To actively participate in regular user survey and feedback activities.

To participate in audit activities in the team and participate in audit in the wider speech and language therapy service, and within multi-disciplinary teams.

To participate in research in SLT team, SLT department or multidisciplinary teams, if required.

To maintain clinical and non-clinical standards and work within the policy frameworks laid down (e.g. N.H.S., Trust, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist’s, Health Professionals Council) through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.

To demonstrate ability to reflect on own practice, identify strengths and development needs and achieve goals set for personal and professional development.

To participate in the development of innovative clinical practice through membership of “working teams”

To keep abreast of national and local Education policies in order to contribute to team service development planning.

To disseminate newly acquired information to other team members.

To undertake specialised relevant training and extend postgraduate experience and knowledge to maintain and develop the skills and knowledge required of SLT working with children with eating, drinking and swallowing issues.

To be accountable for own professional action and recognise own professional boundaries, seeking advice as appropriate.

To participate in clinical supervision in line with Department and Trust policy.

To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible.

To be flexible to the demands of environments including unpredictable work patterns, deadlines and frequent interruptions

To be aware of and adhere to multi-disciplinary / multi-agency strategic planning and policy.

To contribute to SLT Department strategic planning and implement department policies, strategy and guidelines.

To advise managers on any aspects of service organisation that need addressing.

To be aware of Health and Safety Standards and implement policies which are relevant to the working environment.

To maintain highest standards of clinical records including up to date and accurate case notes, electronic data entry, recording and report writing in line with professional and Trust guidelines.

To monitor stock levels in own service area and request new equipment as appropriate.

To be responsible for the security, care and transporting of equipment ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained – including equipment loaned to clients.

To organise accommodation in clinics/schools

To organise and transport assessment and treatment equipment required to work in locations. These may be unwieldy / heavy / bulky.

To work within a wide range of locations requiring careful calculation of driving time according to traffic and weather conditions in planning efficient work schedules

Sitting in restricted positions while delivering therapy. Occasional manoeuvring of clients.

To work in frequent unpleasant conditions and occasionally highly unpleasant conditions e.g. Infectious illnesses, poor hygiene levels, body fluids, verbal aggression.

To work in frequent distressing or emotional circumstances.

To work within a wide range of environments with differing demands and expectation requiring the ability to modify personal and social approaches as required by environment.

To negotiate accommodation that is acceptable for carrying out clinical work and to maintain the intense concentration required despite distractions.