Specialist Speech & Language Therapist - Community

To be responsible for triaging referrals to the Speech and Language Therapy Community Adult service alongside SLT colleagues

To independently manage a caseload of community patients with highly complex speech, language, communication and swallowing (dysphagia) difficulties with reference to theory, published research and evidence, and agreed best practice

To prioritise and respond to referrals, allocating to less experienced colleagues and exercising professional judgement based on extended clinical experience

Provide a service as appropriate to hospitals, nursing, residential homes and patients own homes, using own car to travel between relevant locations for clinic visits, meetings etc.

To function as part of a multi-disciplinary team including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social services personnel, social care, and dietitians

Weekend working and home working may be required in order to provide a service model that meets future requirements

To be responsible for ensuring patients safety with regard to eating and drinking by assessing, monitoring and updating, and communicating details of safe practice to the patient, medical and ward staff, and carers, ensuring that recommendations are clearly documented

To make judgements about when to refer patients for instrumental examination of the swallow considering the risks and benefits of the procedure. To participate in clinical discussion with the Clinical Lead for Dysphagia and to jointly interpret results in order to plan appropriate SLT treatment

To prioritise and decide on appropriate highly specialised treatment programmes individual or group, matched to individual patient/family need and to adapt and modify management options based on extended and developing clinical expertise whilst ensuring patient/carers/multi-disciplinary team are fully involved in the decision-making process

To assess the need for alternative and augmentative means of communication and to create personalised low- tech communication systems such as communication booklets and charts, and train and support patients and carers in their effective use

To identify where high -tech electronic communication systems are required to meet patient needs working in collaboration with the AAC Specialist SLT

To use highly developed communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, and reassurance when explaining highly complex and sensitive information to the full range of levels in understanding of patients and carers, where anxiety frequently acts as a barrier and co-operation is not guaranteed

To demonstrate empathy and reassurance when providing patients and carers with unwelcome information that has long-term implications for lifestyle and employment e.g. when communication skills will not be recovered and/or oral feeding is no longer an option. To provide counselling and support before onward referral for more formal consultations if judged necessary

To monitor, recognise, assess and evaluate subtle changes in patients conditions and adapt assessment and treatment programmes accordingly based on extended clinical experience, including in palliative care

To assess the risk to, and vulnerability of, patients and families in relation to timing and manner of treatment and amount of information provided, i.e. where inappropriate intervention could have a negative effect

Why Work With Us

We are a small, friendly team of dynamic and enthusiastic therapists and support workers.

We work as part of an integrated care organisation, the first in the UK, serving rural and urban communities in South Devon. The demography has a high elderly population

We provide well led acute, community and specialist services, to people from the local area, and were one of the first to run therapist led FEES clinics in the UK

Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education and support for our clinicians

Please note: Priority will be given to applicants with recognised 'Priority' or 'At Risk' status, including NHS staff identified across Devon.

Qualifications and training

Knowledge and Experience

Specific Skills