We have an exciting opportunity for ambitious and dynamic individuals to join our Paediatric Community SLT service as Speech & Language Therapy Assistants (SaLTAs) Band 3. SaLTAs deliver therapy packages to children in community settings. You will have excellent communication skills and experience of working with children as well as an interest in supporting those with additional needs. You will be confident to work with parents/carers & educational staff.
Excellent organisational skills, being child friendly and working independently under instruction are key. Confident IT skills are needed for daily electronic record keeping, online learning, delivering our online training offer and to communicate with service users and colleagues.
Training and supervision are provided. Undertaking the NHS Care Certificate is a requirement of all assistant roles.
Based in schools, clinics and early years settings in East/West Suffolk, an ability to travel during the working day is essential. Band 4 available for candidates with previous relevant SaLTA experience.
Interviews are planned for 11th-13th March 2025. Please enquire for locations available and indicate if you are applying for a Band 3 or 4 role.
Main duties of the job
You will:
1. Deliver therapy packages to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs with the guidance and support of a speech and language therapist.
2. Be able to work independently as well as in a team.
3. Communicate therapy outcomes / next steps to relevant therapy partners and the therapy supervisor.
4. Communicate sensitive information to parents and carers, demonstrating an empathic approach.
5. Recognise the boundaries of the role and your own experience and seek support and guidance from others where required.
6. Organise therapy sessions with therapy partners.
7. Assist with delivering training both face to face and virtually.
8. Offer support to the wider team as required by making resources for therapy sessions, organising toys and resources in clinic bases, booking therapy groups and training sessions, gathering information and assisting in home visits.
9. Use SystmOne for daily record keeping (all clinical sessions and correspondence recorded).
10. Use Outlook, Word, Teams to keep in touch with service users and colleagues, participate in training and to communicate within the team.
About us
#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community.
We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.
The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.
Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.
We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.
With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.
We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyone's voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.
Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?
Job responsibilities
Please see the full job description for more information.
The primary purpose of this role is to deliver speech, language and communication therapy programmes, devised by speech and language therapists, to individual or groups of children and young people (CYP). Supporting and training others (parents, carers, early years / educational staff, and less experienced colleagues) is a key component of this SLTA role. This community-based role will involve working in a variety of settings, including clinics, mainstream schools, specialist units (SSUs), special schools, nurseries or homes, according to service need. The client group comprises of children with difficulties in speech, language and / or communication, including children with Special Educational Needs and complex presentations. Therapy is typically delivered face to face but also via digital methods (e.g. via Microsoft Teams).
Person Specification
Education and qualifications
* Foundation degree Health and Social Care, or equivalent level 5 qualification; plus, A-levels and GCSEs or equivalent(s), including Functional Skills (level 2).
* Or - as a level 5 apprenticeship, such as the Assistant Practitioner apprenticeship.
* Care Certificate.
* Level/NVQ Level 3 or equivalent Good general education including 5 GCSEs including Maths & English (Band 3 only).
* NNEB training Other qualification in related area e.g. child development studies, language, or psychology.
* Relevant qualification or short course in speech, language or communication development (Band 4 only).
* Relevant qualification or short course in relevant therapy approach e.g. Makaton (Band 4 only).
Experience and knowledge
* Experience of working with children of preschool or school age.
* Interest & awareness of children's language development.
* Aware of the importance of safeguarding children.
* Knowledge of the role of a speech and language therapist.
* Experience of working as an SLTA / equivalent knowledge / skill set e.g. have delivered SLT programmes to children or equivalent (Band 4).
* Knowledge of speech, language and communication difficulties Knowledge and experience of Children's Safeguarding Process (Band 4).
* Experience of working with parent/carers.
* Experience of CYP with special or complex needs.
* Knowledge of some aspects and types of speech language and communication difficulties.
* Experience of NHS record keeping such as S1 or equivalent.
* Experience of specific therapy approaches - e.g. using Makaton, AAC, Attention Autism, colourful semantics or Nuffield approach. (Band 4).
* Experience of delivering training and/or therapy groups. Experience of supervising and supporting others (band 4).
Skills and abilities
* Good spoken communication and written skills in English and able to write concise and accurate notes.
* Ability to keep client confidentiality.
* Good interpersonal skills including observation, listening, tact and empathy.
* To work independently as well as under instruction.
* Able to discuss, analyse and reflect on observations (Band 4).
* Use of universal child assessments or scales such as WellComm.
* Able to share sensitive and complex information with families and professionals.
* Able to discuss analyse and reflect on observations.
* Able to use ages / stages knowledge to make informed observations about SLCN profile (Band 4 only).
* Organised.
* Able to prioritise.
* Flexible approach.
* You will need to travel, so you must either hold a full, current driving licence and have access to personal transport or meet the mobility requirements of the role through other reasonable and suitable means.
* Reflective (Band 4 only).
* Confident to work on own initiative (Band 4 only).
* Confident to deliver training to groups of therapy partners (Band 4 only).
* Confident to deal with conflict or differences of opinion, or emotionally challenging situations (band 4 only).
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.
£24,071 to £29,114 a year pro rata per annum.
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