Specialist Speech & Language Therapist Rehab

The role of the Specialist Speech and Language Therapist is

to provide a high quality, evidence-based speech, and language therapy across

the organisation, which promotes the participation, function and safe care of

children and young people accessing The Childrens Trust.

Your aim is to deliver child and family focused, goal led

interventions supporting those with speech, language, communication, and

feeding / swallowing needs, including children and young people with a

tracheostomy.

You will also be embedded in our Multidisciplinary Team,

delivering training across our services, both within the Trust and beyond.

Clinical

-

Provide

high quality, evidence based and equitable speech and language therapy interventions

for children and young people attending The Childrens Trust in partnership

with other members of the multidisciplinary team.

-

Devise

suitable, individual, plans 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.

-

Facilitate

involvement of family and carers in the rehabilitation process, including

day-to-day therapy sessions, and the handing over of practical skills and care.

-

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 Children's 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 Children's Trust,

carrying out off site referral assessments around the United Kingdom, as

required.

-

Identify,

assess, and refer appropriate children / young people requiring instrumental

assessment, for example Videofluoroscopy Swallow Study, in accordance with

departmental policy and guidance.

-

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

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 individual child

/ young person, as well as the service as a whole, including an early evening

(maximum one per week) and weekend day (maximum one per month)

-

Actively

participate in and support the running of relevant meetings.

-

Actively

contribute to audit and research, including production of research outputs.

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.

-

Recognises

barriers to communication and be able to reduce and repair these as

appropriate.

-

Communicates

regularly and effectively with the wider team and Therapy Leads.

-

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.

-

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.

-

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 Children's Trust core

values.

Governance

-

Read

and implement all policies, procedures, and risk assessments, pertinent to

working practice and keep up to date with changes as and when they occur.

-

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, with support

from Clinical Specialist Therapists/ Heads of Therapy.

-

Continue

the audit cycle, by evaluating any changes implemented as a result. This should

include the adoption of evidence informed practice, the trial of emerging

interventions and the cessation of interventions, where evidence is

insufficient and other approaches are indicated.

-

Recognise

and critically appraise situations where the effectiveness, efficiency and

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

the situation, with support from Highly Specialist Therapists/ Head of

Rehabilitation Therapies.

-

Critically

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

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

-

Undergo

The Childrens Trust Risk Assessor training, in order that all activities are

risk assessed and documented in the most appropriate format. Ensure that

detailed risk assessments are completed, as required.

-

Actively

participate in local clinical governance activities.

Career

Long Learning, Education and Research

-

Undertake

all mandatory training, in line with The Childrens Trust policies.

-

Independently

advance personal knowledge, understanding and skills, in line with identified

learning needs, by making appropriate use of a variety of learning and

development resources and opportunities, e.g., by attending courses/ lectures,

attending, and contributing to journal club, contact and involvement with

relevant Clinical Excellence Networks, engaging in shadowing and peer

observation sessions, and/ or visiting other departments.

-

Develop

and deliver external training courses in area of specialism, where potential

demand is identified.

-

Disseminate

and ensure the embedding of relevant new practice, through attendance at and

contributing to in-service education, Literature Reviews, mentoring and shared

sessions.

-

Record

outcomes of learning activities, in a format that reflects personal preferences

and professional requirement, in line with the RCSLT competencies.

-

Complete

and maintain clinical competency documents in line with job role, for example

RCSLT dysphagia competencies.

-

Take

an active part in the training of junior colleagues and lead the development of

Reflective Practice in others.

-

Participates

in in-service competency training programmes and teaching sessions, as

appropriate.

-

Continuously

updates knowledge of the external environment and highlights any issues that

will impact upon existing policies and procedures.

Limits

of Authority and Problem Solving

-

In

addition to The Childrens Trust policies, the Specialist Speech and Language

Therapist is governed by, and should adhere to, the Health and Care Professions

Council (HCPC) Standards of Proficiency for speech and language therapists and

the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Quality Assurance

Standards.

-

Make

day-to-day decisions regarding speech, language and feeding / swallowing

requirements for children and young people, based on case load, including

recommendations for specialist equipment.

-

Responsible

for day-to-day time management and prioritisation of workload, taking into

account the needs of the whole service.

-

Monthly

formal supervision.

-

Provides

formal supervision monthly to junior Speech and Language Therapists and/or

Multidisciplinary Technicians.

-

Support

recruitment processes, as requested by the Therapy Team Lead.

Professionalism

-

Takes

action and raises concerns.

-

Adhere

to the policies and procedures of The Childrens Trust.

-

Maintain

professional boundaries and professionalism at all times.

-

Committed

to demonstrating the organisations values and behaviours at all times.

Health

and Safety

-

Adheres

to all Health and Safety guidelines, principles, and regulations to perform

your role and comply with The Childrens Trust policies and procedures.

-

Provide evidence of all vaccinations (or medical

exemption) required for the post.

-

Adhere to manual handling procedures and complete

mandatory manual handling training.

-

Promotes

the health and safety of others.

-

Uses the incident reporting and risk assessment

system (Vantage), to identify and report risks and incidents/actions if

directed.

-

Responsible for identifying and mitigating risk

within the work environment.

Wellbeing

and Emotional Resilience

-

Maintains

a positive approach and outlook when dealing with change and overcoming

challenges and problems.

-

Recognises

own limitations, develops realistic goals, and uses support network resource

when or if necessary.

-

Treats

challenges and problems as a learning experience.

-

Remains

organised and focused when under pressure.

-

Responds

appropriately and effectively to all constructive feedback.

-

Motivates

self and other.

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 our staff flexible benefits platform, on-site nursery, free eye

tests, enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay, time out days for those

experiencing menopause symptoms and 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, Car

Scheme (subject to eligibility), 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 environment.

Skills & Abilities

Personal Qualities

Experience

Qualifications

Knowledge