Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, School - 12m FTC

Role Requirements

You will provide high quality, evidence-based speech and language therapy assessment and intervention to children and young people with neurodisabilities and neurodevelopmental concerns, within a multidisciplinary and multi-agency setting.

Our service delivery aims to promote outcome focussed interventions, safe care, function and participation of children and young people accessing home, school, and community life. You will support children and young people with communication needs, speech, and language difficulties, eating and drinking and tracheostomy care at a highly specialist level, working within a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency setting

With experience of working in a complex environment, across a large and diverse workforce, you will be exceptionally organised with a high-level of attention to detail. You will naturally possess excellent inter-personal skills, and an ability to consult and positively engage with key stakeholders across the organisation.

Interview Date: To be confirmed.

Clinical

Skills and Responsibilities

Provide high quality, evidence based and equitable speech and language

therapy interventions

for children and young people attending The Childrens Trust.

Lead the provision of high quality, evidence

based speech and language therapy provision for children and young people

attending The Childrens Trust School in partnership with other members of the

Multidisciplinary Team and Education services.

Support the Multidisciplinary Team regarding the impact of

tracheostomies, on speaking and swallowing following assessment of laryngeal

integrity, secretion management and swallow.

Undertake specialist speech and language therapy

assessments of children with highly complex needs e.g. multiple co-morbidities,

neurodisabilities and chronic conditions, through standardised and

non-standardised assessments and clinical observations.

Devise suitable, individual, speech and language

therapy plan that fit within the childs daily routine, whether to be carried

out by parents or members of the Multidisciplinary team; these should be

monitored, evaluated, and adjusted appropriately according to the needs of the

child.

Be an autonomous practitioner with responsibility for assessment, treatment,

and planning for an allocated caseload of children/young people.

Be a key point of support and advice for the speech

and language therapy team and Multidisciplinary team.

Work closely with all members of the

Multidisciplinary team, as well as the child and family, to provide a fully

integrated approach to the overall management of the child. This will include

any home/school visits, professional child related meetings and / or

appointments, as required.

Liaise with all appropriate medical staff,

whether employed by The Childrens Trust, visiting consultants or at off-site

clinics, and attend clinics with the child as required.

Contribute to the assessment and discussion of

new referrals to The Childrens Trust, carrying out off site referral

assessments around the United Kingdom, as required.

Contribute to child related reports, including

looked after children and annual review reports as required, and assist with

the collation of these as and when required, in a timely manner and in line

with organisational targets.

Utilise patient reported and standardised outcome measures for each

allocated child/young person and complete in a timely manner.

Assess, evaluate, and recommend discharge/transition plans for

children/young people within the multidisciplinary team framework.

Provide assessment and management guidelines for

young people with assistive technology needs, sharing information with the

assistive technology team, and referring to national hubs where appropriate.

Provide assessment and intervention in the

clinical area of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) for school,

teaching and integrating skills with members of the Multidisciplinary and

educational teams.

Support the Multidisciplinary and Education team

with measuring short term targets through using the IMpacts curriculum, therapy

outcome measurement tools e.g. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS).

Teach, integrate, and monitor speech and

language therapy interventions in the childs environment, whether it is

carried out by parents, school staff, therapy staff, nursing and care staff or

volunteers.

Assess, and organise the provision of necessary

speech and language therapy / eating and drinking equipment.

Keep appropriate and accurate intervention

records, fulfilling legal, professional and all other requirements of The

Childrens Trust.

Contribute to child related reports, including

looked after children and annual review reports as required, and assist with

the collation of these as required, in a timely manner in line with

organisational targets.

Escalate any concerns around

dysphagia to our specialist providers and medical teams, where appropriate.

Lead and deliver a tiered model approach for

speech and language therapy at The Childrens Trust School, providing regular

integrated time to classes and houses.

Provide leadership within the context of MDTs in

Special Schools internally and externally.

Work closely with all members of the

multidisciplinary team and the child and family to provide a fully integrated

approach to the overall management of the child. This will include any

home/school visits, professional child related meetings and appointments as

required.

Assess, evaluate, and recommend discharge/transition plans for

children/young people within the multidisciplinary team framework.

Provide clinical

cover across the service during episodes of staff shortage/heavy workload, in

order to ensure effective service delivery.

Work

flexibly in terms of hours, in order to meet the needs of the service,

including an early evening (weekly) and one weekend day, per calendar month.

Represent

the Therapy Team and The Childrens Trust when appropriate, deputising for the

Heads of Therapy as required.

Actively participate in and support the running of relevant meetings and

groups.

Communication

Facilitates effective communication with families and members of the

multidisciplinary team, supporting others to embed the advice regarding

management of needs around communication and eating and drinking and

tracheostomy care.

Recognises barriers to communication and be able to reduce these as

appropriate.

Communicates regularly and effectively with the Heads of Therapy.

Maintains clear and concise documents and records, in accordance with The

Childrens Trust Policy.

Ensures documents are managed confidentially at all times.

Involve children and families in areas of service

development.

Use a range of advanced communication skills, to share

specialised information and discussions with a range of audiences, with

different levels of knowledge and expertise.

Attend, contribute and chair Multidisciplinary Team

meetings, to discuss individual children/ young people.

Develop and promote relationships with external networks,

including professionals, stakeholders, and specialist centres, in order to

ensure excellence of care, whilst representing the organisation and reflecting

The Childrens Trust core values.

Manage informal complaints, in line with The Childrens

Trust polices and contribute to the resolution of written complaints and as

they occur, taking immediate action where necessary.

Management

of Self and Others

Working alongside the School Leadership Team and Head

of Therapy, lead on identified and agreed areas of service development

and quality improvement within a defined clinical area, including designing,

implementing and reviewing these.

Participate in the overall day-to-day management and

development of the speech and Language Therapy Service, to ensure an efficient

and safe service for all.

Provide day-to-day leadership, support and

supervision for junior staff, technicians, volunteers, and students, within

area of responsibility, providing direction, motivation, and support to achieve

key objectives.

Represent the Therapy Team on behalf of the Head

of Therapies for Rehabilitation/School, when requested.

Take on the role of Lead Professional or Coordinating

Therapist, following team discussion or as requested by the Head of Therapy, in accordance with the current profile

description.

Participate in the

annual Performance Development Review and monthly supervision sessions, as

required by The Childrens Trust, both as Appraiser and Appraise.

Advise the Head of Therapy, regarding resources

and equipment needs, including shortfalls.

Manage time effectively, prioritising and

delegating work, as required.

Assess

needs, decide priorities, and organise, monitor, and evaluate the provision of

an efficient and effective Therapy service, in liaison with the Head of

Therapy.

Governance

Read and implements

all policies, procedures, and risk assessments, pertinent to working practice

and keeps up to date with policy changes as they occur.

Critically evaluate new intervention methods and

implement where appropriate.

Critically evaluate practice through clinical audits

and by appraisal of the information gained, in combination with current

knowledge of evidence-based practice; identify opportunities for service

improvement and development.

Recognise and

critically appraise situations where the effectiveness, efficiency and quality

of the service are compromised and take appropriate action to resolve the

situation.

Critically

reflect on own performance and that of other staff; use this evaluation to

enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of future practice.

Actively

participates in local clinical governance activities.

The Childrens Trust is

the UKs leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providing

expert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialist

centre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via our

Brain Injury Community Service.

Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, we

are located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction

8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of:

Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.

Staff Benefits

The work we do is

highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable

range of benefits, including, adoption pay, time off for fertility treatment,

enhanced paternity leave, paid carers leave, time out days for those

experiencing menopause symptoms, time off for gender reassignment.

We also offer

additional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlements

ranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your length

of service.

Other benefits include

free on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton train

stations to Tadworth Court, subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation

(subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (where

applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and the

opportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative

environment.

Qualifications

Skills & Abilities

Personal Qualities

Knowledge

Experience