Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Job overview

At North London Foundation Trust, we are committed to improving the physical health of our service users and are passionate about addressing the health inequalities faced by those with mental health needs.

We are looking for an experienced Speech and Language Therapist with a special interest in working with service users whilst in acute mental health care. You will be equally passionate about addressing inequality and committed to working alongside other AHPs to improve the physical health therapy offer. The post holder will have an exciting opportunity to influence and shape future SLT provision across the care group.

We have four acute sites in the Trust across Highgate, Edgeware, Haringey and Enfield. Your flexibility to work across these sites and to respond to need is essential.

Development and quality improvement will be embedded as part of this role. We have close working relationships with our local physical health provision and will ensure these posts do not become isolated but are fully linked in with the North London wide offer. The post holder will be part of the SLT professional networks in NLFT, including the SLT leadership group and will have access to professional supervision from an SLT. Additionally the post holder will be encouraged to access the SLT Mental Health Network and other relevant CENs.

If this sounds exciting to you, like it does to us, please apply!

Main duties of the job

• The Physical Health Therapies Team will provide Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Dietetics and Podiatry services. The team will work in collaboration with established AHP teams and other physical health colleagues within the care group to deliver physical health interventions for adult service users in acute mental health wards within the North London NHS Foundation Trust.
• The postholder will provide clinical, operational, and professional leadership and management of speech and therapy within the Physical Health Therapies Team, and help lead on the design, delivery, and development of high-quality care within this new service in line with advances in evidence-informed practice, digital transformation, etc.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The postholder will act as the deputy team manager for the Physical Health Therapies Team and will assume the team manager's responsibilities in their absence.
• They will autonomously utilise highly specialist knowledge and skills to provide assessment, diagnosis, and management to services users with physical health presentations, thus optimising the clinical pathway, and guide and support others to do the same.
• The post holder will provide clinical assessments and interventions for patients with dysphagia and community difficulties, as indicated by patient need

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.