Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Job overview

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) is seeking an experienced and motivated Band 7 Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist to join our mental health services and play a key role in developing high-quality, person-centred care across Adult Mental Health, Older Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services and CAMHS. This is an exciting opportunity to lead and influence specialist Speech and Language Therapy provision within multidisciplinary teams, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

At EPUT, we are committed to investing in our workforce and developing future clinical leaders. As a Clinical Lead, you will have the opportunity to shape service delivery, drive innovation, contribute to workforce development and support the education and supervision of students and colleagues. Working within a supportive and forward-thinking organisation, you will help build the profile of Speech and Language Therapy within mental health services while contributing to our ambition to attract, develop and retain a highly skilled workforce.

If you are passionate about advancing Speech and Language Therapy within mental health care and want to make a lasting difference to the lives of children, young people, adults and older adults, EPUT offers an outstanding opportunity to develop your career within a values-driven organisation that puts patient care, staff wellbeing and professional development at its heart.

Main duties of the job

Provide expert clinical leadership for Speech and Language Therapy services, across mental health inpatient adult, older adult and CAMHS settings, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, person-centred care.

Lead on and undertake highly specialist clinical work comprising of assessment, diagnosis and management of complex communication, cognitive-communication and swallowing difficulties that impact patients' treatment, recovery and discharge planning.

Act as the senior Speech and Language Therapy resource within the multidisciplinary team, providing specialist advice, training, supervision and support on communication needs, dysphagia, capacity, consent and therapeutic engagement.

Ensure Speech and Language Therapy practice contributes to safe, effective, recovery-focused and least restrictive care.

Develop and embed communication-inclusive approaches that improve access to mental health treatment, reduce health inequalities and support personalised care.

Lead on quality improvement, service evaluation, governance and innovation within the Speech and Language Therapy service. Actively contributing professional expertise to current service provision and future service developments.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Duties:

• Undertake highly specialised assessments and interventions using expert clinical reasoning for adults and adolescents with severe and enduring mental illness, co-morbidities and complex communication needs.
• Assess and manage speech, language and communication difficulties that affect engagement in psychiatric assessment, MDT therapeutic interventions, treatment planning, capacity and risk assessments.
• Provide specialist assessment and management of eating, drinking and Dysphasia associated with mental illness, Dementia, frailty, neurological conditions and medication side effects.
• Support MDTs to make reasonable adjustments for patients with communication difficulties.
• Provide specialist clinical input into complex risk and capacity assessment and care planning where communication difficulties influence presentation, behaviour or treatment engagement.
• Lead on communication support strategies that enhance recovery, reduce distress and improve therapeutic engagement.
• To manage a complex caseload, communicate agreed treatment/care plans to multi-disciplinary team colleagues and partnership agencies at formal and informal meetings and provide specialist Speech and Language Therapy advice,
• To apply a variety of specialist treatment modalities to meet the needs of patients, utilising clinical reasoning processes to determine the most appropriate intervention and manage efficacy through outcome measures as appropriate.
• To delegate and monitor aspects of patient care to assistants, junior staff, students, carers and statutory or non-statutory bodies.
• To regularly review clients’ progress in order to evaluate and interpret the effectiveness of treatment plans, and amend treatment or discharge clients accordingly.
• To undertake research and audit to develop and initiate interventions that are evidence based and reflect a sound integration of theoretical knowledge in order to meet patient need.
• To keep up to date clinical records in line with professional standards and local record keeping policies.
• To provide written and verbal reports as required at any stage in the treatment process in line with Speech and Language Therapy Clinical Governance Standards.

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.