Speech and Language Therapist - Critical Care

Job overview

Do you have proven experience as a Band 6 Speech and Language Therapist with skills across both adult acute wards (including respiratory, oncology and CCU/HDU) and stroke? Would you like the opportunity to hone leadership skills and develop junior staff whilst maintaining your own clinical caseload and further developing skills in instrumental assessments?

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Band 6 or current Band 7 therapist to develop specialist skills within critical care and acute respiratory working with acquired swallowing and communication disorders.   We are a small but very friendly team who seek to enable all staff to progress to their maximum potential, and to support their colleagues to do the same. With a strong ethos in evidence based practice and supportive patient intervention, the team works across critical care and the acute respiratory unit to provide excellent patient intervention and rehabilitation within the acute phase of their illness. We foster good links with our community colleagues to ensure seamless care for patient who may need continuing care post discharge.

Candidates with existing skills in leading videofluoroscopy clinics and performing FEES will have the opportunity to participate in these services. The SALT department has an excellent profile within the hospital and strong links to our main referring consultants, and other professionals. We foster effective MDT working and are an active member of the Therapies department.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading the speech & language therapy team in relation to provision of the critical care and acute respiratory service at the acute Trust, working collaboratively with the Clinical Manager.

The post holder will  be able to perform advanced speech, language and swallowing assessments of patients with diverse and sometimes complex presentations.  They will be responsible for supervising, educating and assessing the performance of speech and language therapists and students. and will provide support for others in developing and delivering individualised treatment plans.

They will be expected to undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further own and teams clinical practice, making recommendations to the Clinical Manager for changes to practice by the team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description, but some of the key responsibilities include:

• Leading the team in relation to the provision of the Critical care and acute respiratory  service working collaboratively with the Clinical Manager
• Management of swallow/communication of tracheostomised patients
• Collaboration with MDT colleagues re: laryngeal wean and decannulation criteria
• Working within the critical care MDT
• Independent management of patients with a variety of clinical presentations
• Supporting Band 5 and 6 SLTs, and assisting them in the development and delivery of individualised treatment plans.
• Supervising, educating and assessing the performance of SALTs and SALT students.
• Participation in videofluoroscopy and FEES clinics