Children's Speech and Language Therapist
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
The East Hampshire & Portsmouth Children's Therapy team is looking for an innovative and proactive Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist who would like to develop their clinical skills within community paediatrics. If you have excellent organisational, communication and problem solving skills and are able to quickly gain a good rapport with people from a range of backgrounds, we would like you to be part of our team.
You will be working in an integrated Children's Therapy service which consists of Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Podiatrists, Therapy Assistants and administration staff. As part of a multi-disciplinary and multiagency team, you will provide services for children with developmental concerns over a wide range of conditions and will have opportunities to gain experience across various settings including community clinics, special and mainstream schools, preschools and home visits.
The successful candidate will be expected to work across the locality of East Hampshire and Portsmouth. The Children's Therapy service in East Hampshire is based over a number of sites including Battenburg Avenue Clinic in Portsmouth and the brand new Fareham Hub due to open in March 2025.
We are an experienced and supportive team that creates innovative ways of working together to better meet the needs of the child and their family/ carers. We greatly value our staff and can support you to develop your skills.
Main duties of the job
To formulate, evaluate and review individual specialised speech and language therapy management and treatment plans using clinical reasoning skills and knowledge of diagnosis and a wide range of treatment skills appropriate to children and young people with communication difficulties, working at all times in partnership with parents, preschool/school staff, and if appropriate the children themselves.
Job responsibilities
To be an autonomous practitioner, professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of your work including the assessment, diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and discharge of children on a designated caseload.
To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the children under your management, adhering to agreed departmental standards, national protocols/policies and the Professional Code of Conduct.
To use clinical knowledge and experience to undertake the comprehensive assessment and differential diagnosis of children with the full range of speech, language and communication difficulties, requiring the ability to make sound clinical decisions.
To formulate, evaluate and review individual SLT management and treatment plans using clinical reasoning skills and knowledge of diagnosis and a wide range of treatment skills appropriate to preschool and school aged children, working at all times in partnership with parents, school staff, and if appropriate the children themselves.
To demonstrate highly developed auditory, perceptual and analytical skills required for the assessment and management of children with a range of communication impairments.
To become competent in the management of children with feeding and swallowing difficulties, in line with Communicating Quality 3 and the Trust's Dysphagia Policy.
To enable others (e.g. parents, class teachers, learning support assistants) to deliver effective therapy programmes by identifying barriers to understanding and using highly developed persuasion, negotiation and teaching skills to gain consent, cooperation and develop competence.
To ensure that all children are enabled to communicate to the best of their ability within developmental guidelines, including the introduction and successful use of alternative and augmentative systems of communication where appropriate e.g. Makaton, high/low tech communication aids etc.
To effectively manage own caseload of children, including responding to urgent requests/referrals, prioritising clinical work and balancing other patient related and professional activities in accordance with service standards and patient needs.
To provide advice to school staff and other agencies including the voluntary sector on the development of policies and practice to facilitate communication, aiming for inclusion, socialisation and the maximisation of education for all children with speech, language and communication difficulties.
To maintain accurate and comprehensive case notes and records which would stand up to legal scrutiny and provide a full account of the child's care.
To ensure that all those involved in a child's care i.e. school staff, other professionals, parents are kept fully informed of the service provided and the progress made through the provision of regular and timely reports and input to the LEA Annual Review process.
To support the LA in fulfilling their statutory duty to meet the needs of each child in accordance with their Education, Health and Care plans. To provide professional advice on contentious cases, writing witness statements and attending tribunals if required, with the support and guidance of senior staff.
To manage conflict, challenging conversations and potentially stressful, upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner, avoiding escalation where possible, complying with the Trust Complaints Procedure at all times.
To be able to work in a variety of environments including clinics, schools, playgroups and children's homes which will involve the necessity for on-site risk assessment and compliance with lone working guidelines.
To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or having difficulty in accepting a diagnosis.
To employ appropriate strategies to manage children who may present with unpredictable and/or challenging behaviour.
To demonstrate a working knowledge of legislation and guidelines pertaining to the field of paediatrics and SLT including SEN procedures, Child Protection.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Recognised Speech and Language Therapy degree level qualification or equivalent
* Registered member Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
* Registered member of Health and Care Professions Council
* Evidence of post graduate study or equivalent experience
Experience
* Experience of a range of paediatric speech and language disorders and delay
* Experience of receiving clinical supervision
* Experience of working in a changing environment
* Experience of integrated working in multi-disciplinary teams
* Training and presentation experience
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.
Salary: £29,970 to £36,483 a year based on full time hours.
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