Clinical Skills and Responsibilities:
Provide high quality, evidence based and equitable speech and language therapy interventions for children and young people attending The Childrens Trust. Lead the provision of high quality, evidence based speech and language therapy provision for children and young people attending The Childrens Trust School in partnership with other members of the Multidisciplinary Team and Education services. Support the Multidisciplinary Team regarding the impact of tracheostomies on speaking and swallowing following assessment of laryngeal integrity, secretion management and swallow.
Undertake specialist speech and language therapy assessments of children with highly complex needs e.g. multiple co-morbidities, neurodisabilities and chronic conditions, through standardised and non-standardised assessments and clinical observations. Devise suitable, individual speech and language therapy plans that fit within the child's 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. 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 Childrens 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 Childrens Trust, carrying out off-site referral assessments around the United Kingdom, as required.
Contribute to child related reports, including looked after children and annual review reports as required, and assist with the collation of these 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 assessment and management guidelines for young people with assistive technology needs, sharing information with the assistive technology team, and referring to national hubs where appropriate.
Provide assessment and intervention in the clinical area of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) for school, teaching and integrating skills with members of the Multidisciplinary and educational teams. Support the Multidisciplinary and Education team with measuring short term targets through using the IMpacts curriculum, therapy outcome measurement tools e.g. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). Teach, integrate, and monitor speech and language therapy interventions in the child's environment, whether it is carried out by parents, school staff, therapy staff, nursing and care staff or volunteers.
Assess, and organise the provision of necessary speech and language therapy/eating and drinking equipment. Keep appropriate and accurate intervention records, fulfilling legal, professional and all other requirements of The Childrens Trust. Escalate any concerns around dysphagia to our specialist providers and medical teams, where appropriate.
Lead and deliver a tiered model approach for speech and language therapy at The Childrens Trust School, providing regular integrated time to classes and houses. Provide leadership within the context of MDTs in Special Schools internally and externally. Work closely with all members of the multidisciplinary team and 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 appointments as required.
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 service, including an early evening (weekly) and one weekend day, per calendar month. Represent the Therapy Team and The Childrens Trust when appropriate, deputising for the Heads of Therapy as required.
Actively participate in and support the running of relevant meetings and groups. Facilitate 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 and tracheostomy care. Recognise barriers to communication and be able to reduce these as appropriate. Communicate regularly and effectively with the Heads of Therapy.
Maintain clear and concise documents and records, in accordance with The Childrens Trust Policy. Ensure 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. 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 Childrens Trust core values. Manage informal complaints, in line with The Childrens Trust policies and contribute to the resolution of written complaints as they occur, taking immediate action where necessary.
Working alongside the School Leadership Team and Head of Therapy, lead on identified and agreed areas of service development and quality improvement within a defined clinical area, including designing, implementing and reviewing these.
Participate in the overall day-to-day management and development of the speech and Language Therapy Service, to ensure an efficient and safe service for all. Provide day-to-day leadership, support and supervision for junior staff, technicians, volunteers, and students, within area of responsibility, providing direction, motivation, and support to achieve key objectives. Represent the Therapy Team on behalf of the Head of Therapies for Rehabilitation/School, when requested. Take on the role of Lead Professional or Coordinating Therapist, following team discussion or as requested by the Head of Therapy, in accordance with the current profile description.
Participate in the annual Performance Development Review and monthly supervision sessions, as required by The Childrens Trust, both as Appraiser and Appraise. Advise the Head of Therapy regarding resources and equipment needs, including shortfalls. Manage time effectively, prioritising and delegating work as required. Assess needs, decide priorities, and organise, monitor, and evaluate the provision of an efficient and effective Therapy service, in liaison with the Head of Therapy.
Read and implement all policies, procedures, and risk assessments, pertinent to working practice and keep up to date with policy changes as they occur. Critically evaluate new intervention methods and implement where appropriate. 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.
Recognise and critically appraise situations where the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of the service are compromised and take appropriate action to resolve the situation. Critically reflect on own performance and that of other staff; use this evaluation to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of future practice. Actively participate in local clinical governance activities. Undergo The Childrens Trust Risk Assessor training, to ensure that all activities are risk assessed and documented in the most appropriate format. Ensure that detailed risk assessments are completed, as required.
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, contact and involvement with relevant special interest groups, 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 for dysphagia and tracheostomies. Take an active part in the training of junior colleagues and lead the development of Reflective Practice in others.
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