Community Speech & Language Therapist - 11 Months Fixed Term Contract

Job overview

• To provide a Speech and Language Therapy service across South East Essex for adults with communication and swallowing disorders seen within the service.

Main duties of the job

• To work as part of the service team to provide continuing care for people with communication and/or swallowing difficulties in the community.
• To be responsible and accountable for the independent prioritisation and management of own clinical caseload.
• To begin to take an active role in triaging and effectively prioritising new referrals.
• To begin developing a clinical specialism and supporting colleagues within this specialist area.
• To deliver training to other Speech and Language Therapists and the wider multi-disciplinary team within your specialist area.
• To be actively involved in and work towards initiating audits and service improvement projects.
• To supervise the work of less experienced SLTs, students and assistants and ensure that those to whom tasks are delegated, e.g. unqualified Speech and Language Therapy staff, have the appropriate level of competence. To work towards providing clinical supervision for a newly-qualified Speech and Language Therapist and support them through their NQP competencies.
• To make a differential diagnosis of communication and swallowing difficulties on the basis of specialist formal and informal clinical assessments; to ensure that all interventions are based on accurate, appropriate and sufficient assessment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To develop clear individual care plans based on clinical guidelines and established best practice.
• To use appropriate outcome measures to evaluate personal clinical effectiveness.
• To provide programmes of therapy activities and demonstrations of those activities to those concerned (family, staff, visitors) to enable carry over and generalisation of new skills into the wider communicative environment.
• To consider the need to adapt clinical practice to meet the needs of patients and carers including issues relating to disability, culture and educational attainment e.g. the format of written advice, wheelchair access and interpreters.
• To ensure smooth and appropriate handover of care from one agency to another; to provide reports, reflecting specialist knowledge and interpretation of specialist assessments, to other health professionals, including GPs and Hospital consultants as requested; to make and/or recommend onward referrals to other professionals or agencies, as appropriate.
• To maintain up to date and accurate case notes in line with RCSLT professional standards and local guidelines and policies.
• To submit activity data, using SystmOne, accurately, regularly and promptly in accordance with agreed guidelines and policies.
• To share information with others, observing data protection guidelines.
• To be responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment, ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained - including equipment loaned to clients and portable I.T. equipment.
• To take responsibility for ensuring that equipment and assessment tools and other essential supplies are requested in a timely manner.
• To participate in development of SLT Service risk management, quality standards setting and Clinical Governance/audit projects, advising clinical lead of any changes or developments that may affect service planning and policy.
• To participate in undergraduate clinical and observational placements for all relevant disciplines.
• To have regard for your own personal safety and that of the people, carers and any staff or colleagues under your direction, in particular with regard to moving and handling of people or equipment in order to ensure the safe positioning of self and others.
• To maintain a high standard of professional practice as set out by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) in the professional code of conduct, the Health Professions Council (HPC) and service standards, including maintaining continuing professional development (CPD).

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.