Do you want to be part of an award winning and dynamic social enterprise that:
* is renowned for providing high quality care and is ranked ‘Good’ by the CQC;
* is a for-better-profit organisation, reinvesting any surplus back into our health and care services and our local community;
* is friendly, ambitious, welcomes innovation and rewards excellence;
* offers superior benefits; everything you get in the NHS and more;
* and whose achievements reflect the passion, dedication and commitment demonstrated by our staff across all services?
Our vision is to be a successful, vibrant, community interest company that benefits the communities we serve. So if you want to be a part of this, we would love to hear from you.
Job overview
* Do you want to make a difference to early years and school aged children with communication needs and their families?
* Are you passionate about empowering education staff and parents to help children reach their full potential?
* Are you looking to develop your clinical skills within a diverse and experienced team?
If you answered yes, we've got the perfect role for you!
We are a large, friendly and supportive team who offer children an integrated approach to therapy through holistic assessment and intervention.
We are seeking a newly qualified therapist or a band 5 looking to expand their experience, with an interest in supporting children with diverse communication needs in school, early years and special school settings.
We have a well developed mentor and peer support scheme for newly qualified and more experienced therapists. This includes regular clinical supervision and opportunities for both in-house and external training as well as attending relevant CENs to support continued professional development. We actively support our team to develop specialist interests in a range of areas. This can include opportunities in: speech sound disorders, developmental language disorder (DLD), voice, stammering, autism, selective mutism and dysphagia.
We welcome applications from final year speech and language therapy students who are completing their studies and awaiting HCPC registration.
Main duties of the job
* To work as an autonomous practitioner, to deliver a speech and language service within preschool, school, special school and clinic settings covering the 0-19 age range.
* To provide assessment, intervention and advice for children, their families and carers within the early years, special school and mainstream school caseload.
* To empower school staff and parents to support and develop children’s communication needs.
Working for our organisation
So what else?
This is your chance to join a progressive and innovative service in a social enterprise that is patient and staff focused - you’ll even have the opportunity to become an MCH shareholder.
We encourage staff to get involved in exploring new ways of working and service development.
We’ll provide well established, in-service training, one to one supervision, and appraisals with regular support.
You’ll be able to develop your skills in a friendly and supportive team.
Would you like to work flexibly? In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important work life balance is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.
The small print
Informal visits can be arranged on request.
We will offer you the choice of two pension schemes; the NHS Pension scheme and the Scottish Widows group pension scheme.
MCH encourages all staff to be double COVID vaccinated to protect themselves, their colleagues, their family and their patients.
* Interviews will be held on Monday 28th April 2025
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Communication and relationship skills
* To work alongside other speech & language therapy colleagues providing support and professional exchange of ideas and experience.
* To attend appropriate meetings within the speech & language therapy service and children’s therapy team.
* To contribute to clinical teams by discussing own and others input around client’s needs ensuring a well-coordinated care plan.
* To communicate complex condition related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and members of the multidisciplinary team/other professions.
* To communicate condition related information to clients who have communication problems themselves.
* To work closely with clients, carers and families, agreeing decision making relevant to the client management.
* To demonstrate empathy with clients, carers and families and colleagues, ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist. To demonstrate skills in motivating clients and carers to engage in the therapeutic process.
2. Knowledge, training and experience
* To identify personal and professional development evidenced by a personal development plan as part of the appraisal process.
* To maintain professional standards by attending appropriate training including short courses and development relating to the clinical specialism to maintain up to date HPC and RCSLT registration.
* To demonstrate knowledge of and adherence to RCSLT professional clinical guidelines.
* To demonstrate knowledge in clinical specialism underpinned by current evidence-based practice.
* To demonstrate a working knowledge of relevant procedures including safeguarding children, SEN procedure and other legal requirements.
* To demonstrate a working knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and their application to professional practice.
* To participate in the development of local clinical guidelines informed by evidence of clinical specialism.
* To participate in the development and delivery of training of other professional groups and carers.
* To support placements for speech & language therapy students and prospective speech & language therapy students.
* To explain the role of speech & language therapy(ist) in work settings.
* To demonstrate the ability to reflect on and evaluate training provided.
* To undertake general administrative and client related administrative tasks in line with speech & language therapy service operational policies.
* To maintain client records in accordance with RCSLT professional standards and local trust operational policies and quality standards.
* To provide accurate statistical information as required.
* To produce reports circulated to a wide range of professional colleagues across agencies, clients and carers regarding clients’ needs and summarising proposed care plans.
* To share information with others observing data protection guidelines.
3. Analytical and judgement skills
* To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.
4. Planning and organisational skills
* To be responsible for organising and planning own caseload and work demands to meet patient and service priorities, in conjunction with the service lead and informing the service lead of excessive demands and effects on patient care.
5. Physical skills
* To undertake assessment of patients with a wide variety of presentations and conditions: using clinical reasoning skills and assessment techniques to formulate individualised treatment plans and programmes.
6. Responsibility for patient / client care
* To provide a comprehensive patient focused service to children living in the Medway area.
* To deliver speech and language programmes, and intervention and support others to deliver these interventions.
* To continually reassess patient progress, adapting programmes and treatment accordingly and developing discharge plans.
7. Responsibility for policy and service development implementation
* To be aware of and adhere to service and team plans and policies including integrated/multi-agency working.
8. Responsibilities for financial and physical resources
* To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment and facilities, ensuring faulty items are removed from use and reported for action.
* To be aware of health and safety aspects of your work and implement any policies, which may be required to improve the safety of your work area, including your prompt recording and reporting of accidents or concerns.
* To manage clinical and non-clinical risk, within own role according to team and MCH protocols, including the development of individual patient clinical risk assessments.
9. Responsibilities for human resources (HR)
* Participate in the organisation’s staff appraisal system as an appraise including the agreement of a personal development plan.
10. Responsibilities for information resources
* To collect and submit all data and statistics as required in a timely and accurate manner.
* To record patient contacts onto the RIO system used by the organisation for recording all information relating to patients you are currently treating.
11. Responsibilities for research and development (R&D)
* To participate in team and service audits and research projects.
12. Freedom to act
To abide by the rules of professional conduct of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
See attached
Areas of the role which require mental effort including the nature, level, frequency and duration of the mental effort required. The frequency of the requirement should also be identified, ie whether this occasional or a frequent need.
Areas of the role which require emotional effort and the nature, level, frequency and duration demands of the emotional effort required.
The nature, level, frequency and duration of demands arising from inevitably adverse environmental conditions (eg inclement weather, extreme heat/cold, smells, noise and fumes) and hazards, which are unavoidable.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Recognised speech and language therapy degree qualification or equivalent.
* Relevant short courses and training.
Registration
* HCPC registration (eligible for or received).
Experience
* Appropriate undergraduate placement experience with a paediatric caseload.
* Direct experience of working with children with SLCN.
Knowledge
* Knowledge of a range of appropriate assessment and intervention approaches.
MCH Values
* Caring and compassionate, deliver quality and value, working in partnership.
We reserve the right to close this advert earlier than the published closing date if we receive a sufficient number of applications. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted within 1 week of the closing date; no discourtesy is intended in not contacting you if your application is rejected.
When completing your application, please include the email addresses and contact telephone numbers for your referees; your referees should be your line managers / course tutors for the last 3 years.
MCH is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to a compassionate and inclusive workplace and values diversity of all people. We prohibit unlawful discrimination and harassment of any kind and wish to provide our employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. At the heart of our values, we seek to treat people fairly and with dignity and respect and provide a workplace where people feel they belong.
We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workforce and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join MCH. We are positive about disability and we guarantee interviews to applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria as specified in the job description. We are committed to offering support and making reasonable adjustments to allow full participation in the interview and selection process and through their employee journey.
We are committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and vulnerable adults.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Name Emma Chambers/Rebecca Masalovich Job title Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Email address medch.childrenscommunity@nhs.net Telephone number 0300 123 3444 Additional information
Informal visits can be arranged on request.
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