Advanced Speech and Language Therapist

Job content

Job Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Speech and Language Therapist to join the Speech and Language Therapy Team as the Team Lead. The therapist will be expected to work closely alongside their clinical lead counterparts to promote effective team working and service delivery.

We are looking for a Speech and Language Therapist with experience of working in the acute hospital setting with acquired speech, language, voice and communication impairments and dysphagia. The successful applicant will work flexibly over 7 days, alongside highly experienced therapists, forming part of the SLT senior team with other advanced specialist for the general wards, critical care, emergency care and the complex rehab unit.

The ideal applicant will be expected to actively participate in shaping future developments within the service as it continues to grow.

Main duties of the job

The Successful Candidate Will

• Be at least 5 years post graduate.
• Have significant experience as a senior therapist.
• Contribute to the VFS rota and be given opportunities to develop skills in this area, we are working towards offering a FEES service.
• Have the ability to work flexibly to changing working patterns as the teamwork their 37.5 hours across a 7-day rota, participating in late shifts (11am-7pm).
• Have experience of leading and or participating in service development.
  
  

The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to lead, motivate and inspire others, and have a clear vision of the role and a commitment to the team. They will have clinical, operational and governance leadership of the team as well as having line management responsibility for a large cohort of clinical staff. The successful candidate will be expected to provide supervision to senior therapists within the team.

A flexible approach to day-to-day tasks is essential in order to meet the demands of the 7 day service. The successful candidate will join the rota and will work 5 days a week over the 7 days that the service is provided. The team hours cover an extended service 8am to 7pm on a rota basis.

About Us

The Secretary of State has approved the partnership between St Helens & Knowsley and Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals.

From 1st July we have come together as a single organisation under the name Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Trust delivers acute hospital care, intermediate care, community, and primary care services to a population of over 600,000 people with a combined workforce of around 9000 dedicated and skilled staff from 17 locations including Whiston, Southport & Formby, St Helens, Ormskirk and Newton hospitals.

The Trust provides regional services for burns, plastic surgery and spinal injuries to more than 4 million people across Mersey and West Lancashire, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and North Wales.

Our Vision Is To Deliver 5 Star Patient Care

• CAREthat is evidence based, high quality and compassionate
• SAFETY that is of the highest standards
• COMMUNICATION that is open, inclusive and respectful
• SYSTEMS that are efficient, patient centred and reliable
• PATHWAYS that are best practice and embedded, but also respect the individual needs of patients
  
  

Our Achievements Include

• Trust rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• Awarded National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for our Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
  
  

Please see our Wellbeing & Benefits booklet for more information on our staff benefits. Accessible version available upon request.

Job Description Job Responsibilities

KEY DUTIES

• To work within Trust clinical guidelines, HCPC and Registrant Body guidelines and to have a working knowledge of national and local standards and to ensure adherence to these and the delivery of a high-quality service.
• To ensure effective communication processes are in place to meet the needs of patients, relatives and other members of the MDT.
• To propose and develop evidence-based procedures and working practises within their clinical area and ensure that they are implemented.
• Sets a high standard of record keeping regarding patient care which is comprehensive, concise, valid and audited on a regular basis.
• Responsible for implementing strategies which enable quality targets to be met utilising recognised audit tools.
• To provide clinical and professional advice to all members of the Therapy team
• To deputise for management team when required.
• Role includes a minimum of 70% clinical time within working hours.
  
  

Clinical & Professional Responsibilities

• To communicate complex patient and service-related information effectively to Health and Wellbeing and local authority colleagues and third sector agencies.
• Use complex communication skills and knowledge when working with patients, their families and other provider agencies.
• To involve the patient and the family/carers in all relevant discussions about their management and decisions that are made about treatment techniques and facilitating patient involvement in the planning, development, delivery and evaluation of the service.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• Delivering high level and complex triage, clinical assessment, diagnostics, treatment and evaluation of the needs within the trust.
• Providing leadership; promoting a learning culture for colleagues and other agencies; leading service innovations and demonstrating high level problem solving.
• Ensuring excellence in service delivery through personal and service development, underpinned by evidence-based practice and research, embedded in the quality assurance agenda.
• Driving innovation; managing the change process to ensure your service continues to be flexible and proactive to reflect the needs of the trust.
• To triage patients with complex needs.
• To undertake complex clinical assessments of patients/ service users within sphere of advanced practice.
• To determine a clinical diagnosis and make high level decisions regarding appropriate treatment/ care plans.
• Implement complex care/ interventions according to clinical need.
• Evaluate complex care/ interventions based on evidence from clinical outcomes and best practice.
• To provide advanced clinical advice, support and training to patients/ service users, families, carers and professional colleagues to improve their journey and their health and wellbeing.
• To be professionally accountable for all aspects of own work including the management of patients in your care.
• Registered practitioners who are non-medical prescribers are accountable for their prescribing activities by ensuring they are aware of their Professional accountability and any restrictions or special considerations in their prescribing practice.
• To develop and maintain the high-level clinical skills required to work as an advanced practitioner.
  
  

Administrative Responsibilities

• To be responsible for the collection and timely submission of accurate data
• To be responsible for the update and maintenance of ESR (Electronic Staff Record) of all staff within team
• To be responsible for the development and management of the monthly staff rota in their team
  
  

Teaching & Training Responsibilities

• To act as a mentor, lead and support staff through preceptorship and / or clinical supervision delegating as appropriate.
• To create a climate conducive to learning for all staff and students
• To be responsible for ensuring the annual appraisal of all therapy staff within team in order to implement professional and organizational targets, review performance and identify training and development needs via personal development plans and implement training to address these.
• Ensure all staff fulfill both mandatory and team based specific training
  
  

Line Management/Supervisory Responsibilities

• To demonstrate leadership by means of:
• Delivering change within sphere of practice, when and where indicated, to improve service delivery.
• Influencing, motivating, supporting and enabling others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the trust.
• To be responsible for the management of daily operational duties in the team including work allocation, deployment and supervision of staff to ensure the smooth running of the team.
• To be responsible for regular team meetings and IST within designated area.
• Effectively and efficiently manage and forward plan the use of therapy resources to ensure that appropriate skill mix is maintained at all times.
• Address performance issues through the use of supervision and Trust Policy seeking support from HR and line management as appropriate.
• Ensure that equipment is maintained in safe working order and stock managed within the available financial resource.
• Resolve complaints / issues timely and effectively at local level. Investigate and action plan formal complaints in conjunction with the operational manager
• To monitor and manage sickness absence at team level and work closely with Operational manager / HR to ensure employees comply with policies / procedures relating to this.
• To lead on recruitment within team in a timely manner, supported by operational manager.
  

Financial Responsibilities

• To monitor the team budget in conjunction with the Operational manager
• To be the authorised signatory up to the value of £500
• To identify options for cost improvements and support and monitor their implementation
  
  

CLINICAL GOVERNANCE, RESEARCH & AUDIT

• To benchmark current service delivery against local and national clinical guidelines and standards of care.
• To lead on current best practice, based on the bench marking outcomes.
• To support the Governance Agenda by understanding and facilitating priorities for change and ensuring that new developments embrace the governance objectives.
• To translate local and national guidelines and train staff to ensure they have the skills and knowledge required to deliver effective services.
• To measure and evaluate teamwork and current practices through the use of evidence-based projects, audit, research, statistical information and outcome measures and lead others in doing so.
• To network with practitioner colleagues within the trust and across the North West and Nationally, to learn together and share good practice.
• To interpret and implement quality assurance practices within team.
• To participate in research and clinical audit programs in order to foster innovative practice and contribute to the development of services and quality initiatives in service area.
  
  

Qualifications

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Relevant Professional Registration
• Registered with HCPC
• Clinical Educators Certificate
• Post Graduate Accredited Study e.g. MSc in relevant Health studies
  
  

Knowledge & Experience Essential

• Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
• Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
• Experience of leadership of a team including change management
• Evidence of effective working within an MDT
• Experience of Service development
• Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
• Audit and research in a clinical area
  
  

Skills Essential

• Awareness of own strengths and limitations
• Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
• Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
• Mentorship skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
• Demonstrates a commitment to respecting and displaying the Trust values at all times
  
  

Other Essential

• Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
  
  

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab) .

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab) .

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust/ various locations

Warrington Road

Prescot

L35 4DR

Employer’s website

https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)