Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Job overview

We're looking for an ambitious, experienced Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join our Community Paediatric team, delivering specialist assessment and diagnostic intervention for children with complex speech, language and communication needs across Lambeth and Southwark.

Working in our SALT Schools & Adolescent Communication Team, you'll work across education, early years and community settings to help build an integrated universal, targeted and specialist offer, strengthening early identification, developing workforce capability, and supporting inclusive practice for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.

You'll lead within your specialist area (Early Years Neuro-Disability, Deaf Communication, Stammering & Cluttering, Autism, or Schools/FE/YOS), providing expert advice to colleagues, shaping service and policy development, and mentoring SLTs and assistants.

Combining clinical expertise with consultation, coaching, supervision, service improvement and system leadership, you'll support Expert at Hand practitioners and the wider SLT workforce to embed new ways of working, while maintaining a small targeted-plus and specialist caseload for children with more complex needs.

You'll bring demonstrable expertise in paediatric assessment and intervention, advanced clinical reasoning, and confidence managing a busy caseload, along with strong organisational, interpersonal and communication skills as a proactive, reflective clinician.

Main duties of the job

What you'll be doing

• Providing highly specialist, autonomous clinical case management for complex needs
• Leading projects, training and service development within your specialist area
• Providing line management, supervision and mentoring to junior colleagues and students
• Advising local authorities, education staff and multi-disciplinary colleagues
• Leading team-wide initiatives on service quality and effectiveness

What we're looking for

• HCPC registration and substantial specialist paediatric experience
• Proven leadership, negotiation and mentoring skills
• Experience contributing to service and policy development
• A genuine passion for raising standards and developing others

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Professional / Clinical Responsibilities
• Provide highly specialist, autonomous clinical case management, including;
• Highly specialist assessments
• Highly specialist therapy
• Adapting practice based on individual client and setting needs to overcoming barriers to understanding.
• Assess, develop and implement highly specialist SLT intervention programmes, adapting practice to individual clients' or families' circumstances, including cultural and linguistic differences.
• Develop bespoke information and resources for clients, families and relevant others about speech, language and communication and/or feeding and swallowing needs.
• Provide advice to others on the management and care of clients with communication, interaction and/or feeding and swallowing difficulties.
• Write comprehensive reports to be shared with families and a range of professionals, reflecting specialist knowledge, in line with department guidance.
• Work alongside the Senior Leadership Team to support colleagues in producing high-quality, evidence-based reports that meet professional and service standards.
• Keep up to date with new techniques and developments to promote and maintain good practice.
• Demonstrate good negotiation skills in dealing with a range of complex issues and generate appropriate strategies for caseload management.
• Develop, implement and review care pathways and recommend changes in practice as appropriate.
• Identify and make appropriate onward referrals to other agencies.
• Demonstrate clinical effectiveness through careful analysis and interpretation of complex situations, utilising and guiding evidence-based practice and outcome measurement.
• Ensure service users can express their views and are involved in planning and prioritising their care plans.
• Raise local awareness of the importance of developing communication skills within the service area.
• Identify training needs and develop, provide and evaluate specialist training for parents, carers, volunteers, educators and practitioners.
• Plan, guide and support the work of parents, carers and educators implementing strategies and programmes in support of therapy goals.
• Actively lead and participate in projects, activities and events, including team meetings.
• Establish appropriate partnerships with agencies and disciplines promoting social and educational inclusion for children with speech, language and communication difficulties.
• Receive and communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information to clients, carers, families and other professionals, including those under stress or with severely challenging communication difficulties.
• Management and Leadership
• Take a role or lead, as requested by the SLT Senior Leadership team, in working groups, policy development groups, specific projects and events.
• Use highly specialist knowledge to inform the line manager on issues of service delivery/policy development, including access and equity shortfalls and service pressures.
• Provide Line Management and Supervision to junior colleagues. Support other Band 7 therapists to manage the local cluster.
• Develop care protocols/packages relating to specialist area in liaison with the Team Leader to improve client care.
• Contribute to interagency/multi-disciplinary working and team building.
• Negotiate with health, education and social care professionals to achieve seamless services for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs.
• Use highly specialist knowledge to inform service/policy developments.
• Propose ideas for improving services to the highly specialist area/whole service and contribute to service development.
• Financial and Physical Resources
• Monitor stock levels in own service area, requesting and purchasing new equipment as appropriate.
• Develop resources of interest to the specialist client group.
• Follow procedures to ensure the security, care and maintenance of equipment, taking responsibility for infection control and safety standards, including assessment resources and equipment loaned to clients.
• Education and Professional Development
• Engage in reflective practice with peers through participation in peer review, peer mentoring and supervision as appropriate.
• Provide line management, supervision, mentoring, advice and support to more junior SLTs, assistants, students and volunteers.
• Facilitate the development of others' problem-solving/negotiation skills within peer review/support.
• Plan, monitor and support the work of assistants, students, administration staff and volunteers.
• Resolve verbal complaints about the SLT service in liaison with the SLT Leadership team.
• Generate appropriate strategies for the management of own workload.
• Take on organisational responsibilities within, and contribute to, team meetings.
• Develop and review induction packages and provide induction for colleagues, including more junior members of staff.
• Develop and provide regular specialist training on a range of topics.
• Provide second opinions linked to clinical specialism.
• Explain the role of SLTs to parents, visitors, students, other professionals and volunteers.
• Provide full student placements, including assessment of placements as appropriate.
• Support students from other professional groups as appropriate.
• Contribute to identifying and meeting training needs within the team.
• Information Management
• Maintain up-to-date and accurate case notes in line with HCPC/RCSLT professional standards and local Trust policies.
• Share information with carers, school staff and other professionals, observing data protection guidelines and client confidentiality.
• Gather and update activity data accurately and regularly, ensuring information is provided promptly within local Trust guidelines.
• Participate in areas of risk management, quality standards and clinical effectiveness.
• Lead team-wide initiatives seeking the views of children, parents and partner organisations on service quality and effectiveness.
• Participate in departmental research and Clinical Governance/Audit projects, including collection and provision of research data as required.
• Work across borough boundaries, accessing and recording information using mobile devices, and attending offices for meetings or specific events.
• Freedom to Act
• Provide leadership within the specialist area and team(s).
• Manage a complex caseload independently.
• Be accountable for own professional action and recognise own professional boundaries, seeking advice as appropriate.
• Work within defined departmental and national protocols/policies, professional code of conduct and the Trust's value-based behaviours.
• Work independently, accessing line management, supervision and performance development reviews (appraisal) at pre-determined intervals.

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.