Job overview
Are you an experienced Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist looking to progress into a Band 6 role, a returner to practice, or an already established Speech and Language Therapist Specialist Practitioner, looking to join a forward-thinking team? Our Dorset Community Adult Speech and Language Therapy service, based at Yeatman Hospital, Sherborne, has the opportunity for you.
As a Speech and Language Therapist Specialist Practitioner you will be responsible for providing a community clinical service. The service sees patients in their own home, in clinics and in Community Hospital inpatient settings. You will be expected to work collaboratively with other team members to manage the locality caseload as needed. You will be highly motivated and forward thinking.
In return, we welcome ideas of change that could contribute to creating a better service for people living with acquired communication and swallowing difficulties. We offer CPD opportunities, regular supervision and peer supervision with other Band 6s.
The Specialist Speech and Language Therapist role is a part-time role of 26.25 hours a week. Our service embraces flexible working and we support a hybrid model of working both from home and in office.
Please note visa sponsorship for this role is unfortunately not available. Ensure you hold valid right to work in the UK and will not require sponsorship if successful.
Main duties of the job
This post offers the opportunity to:
Work with individuals with a wide range of neurological conditions who present with complex communication and swallowing difficulties
Work closely with experienced speech and language therapists in the community setting to develop specialist skills.
Refer and attend videofluoroscopy clinic as appropriate.
Develop skills and knowledge of working with patients with AAC.
Attend regular local speech and language therapy meetings with a strong bias to CPD.
Opportunity to supervise band 5 therapists, to work with SLT assistants and also to work with therapists from the other community SLT Teams.
Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of. Applicants who subscribe to the DBS update service are able to present a valid DBS certificate instead of requiring a new check.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post. We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate’s individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role. All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application. As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact [email protected]
Person specification
BUSINESS TRAVEL
Essential
- Subject to the provisions of the Equality Act, able to travel using own vehicle on Trust business. - Level 1/2
JOB SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Experience at Practitioner Band 5 level
- Experience of specialist working
- Experience of managing change
- Demonstrable knowledge of assessment and therapeutic interventions in area of specialism
- Experience of developing specialist programmes of care for an individual or groups of patients/clients and of providing highly specialist advice
- Able to demonstrate specialist clinical reasoning skills to assimilate information in order to make a clinical judgement regarding diagnosis and intervention.
- Ability to prioritise and organise workload effectively
Desirable
- Recent previous experience within a comparable role
PERSONAL QUALITIES/ATTRIBUTES
Essential
- Evidence of demonstrating the Trust’s values and behaviours.
- Able to communicate effectively at different levels of the organisation and with staff, patient/service users, visitors or external organisations both verbally and in writing in the exchange of highly complex, sensitive or contentious information which may require the use of negotiating and/or persuasive skills.
- Able to overcome barriers to understanding where there are physical or mental disabilities.
- Able to analyse and assess situations and to interpret potentially conflicting situations and determine appropriate action, where there is a range of options and judgement is required.
- Experience of planning and organising complex activities, e.g. organise own time and that of junior staff and learners, planning off duty rotas and undertaking discharge planning involving co-ordination with other agencies.
- Ability to use own initiative within sphere of authority
- Demonstrable ability of using tact and diplomacy
- Demonstrable ability to analyse situations and provide a resolution
- Knowledge and understanding of legislation relevant to practice
- Ability to evaluate care leading to improvement in quality standards an service improvement
- Demonstrable leadership qualities and the ability to perform as a role model
- Willingness to advance own clinical knowledge, skill and competence based on current evidence
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND TRAINING
Essential
- Registered practitioner to degree/diploma level supplemented by post registration diploma level specialist training and/or short courses or demonstrable extensive experience in the relevant specialty
- Membership of the relevant Professional Body
- Learning and Assessing in Practice Qualification or equivalent practice assessors training
- Evidence of recent professional development in an up to date portfolio
Desirable
- Knowledge and understanding of Trust Strategy relevant to role
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/RESOURCES
Essential
- Experience of using electronic patient / service user record systems
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Speech and Language Therapist (Specialist Practitioner) Band 6 with Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust in Poole, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 6 Speech and Language Therapist role. The advertised salary is £27,971 - £33,681 p.a.. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 04 Aug 2026.
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