Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Job overview

Join Our Mainstream Schools Team in Islington

Are you passionate about supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs? We're looking for a Band 6 Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join our dynamic school-based team and help improve outcomes across Islington's primary and secondary schools.

You'll manage a specialist caseload, providing assessment, intervention and consultation for children and young people with a range of speech, language and communication needs in mainstream schools.

Working within a highly skilled multidisciplinary team, you'll collaborate closely with school staff, Outreach services, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and other professionals to deliver integrated, child-centred support.

This role offers excellent opportunities for professional growth. You'll receive regular specialist supervision, contribute to service development, and support students, assistants, school staff and junior colleagues. You'll also help design and deliver training, promote evidence-based practice and innovatively work with school staff to create communication-friendly learning environments.

You'll be joining a friendly, innovative team that values collaboration, learning and making a meaningful difference to the lives of children, young people and their families.

If you're ready to further develop your specialist skills and make a lasting impact in Islington schools, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for delivering a comprehensive, specialist service to children and young people attending mainstream schools, including assessment, diagnosis and intervention for individual children and young people as well as providing a support service to schools themselves. The post holder is an autonomous practitioner and is responsible for organising and managing their own caseload in up to 6 mainstream schools (primary and potentially secondary), working from a central base. They will work with children and young people with a wide range of speech, language and communication needs including Developmental Language Disorders, Selective Mutism, Speech difficulties and children with language disorders in association with conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Condition, Down's Syndrome and ADHD. They will contribute to project work within the team, as well as offering student placements and mentoring and supporting junior colleagues.

Find out what it is like to work in our friendly, supportive teams which span hospital and community settings across vibrant and diverse North Central London first hand, visit http://www.whittington.nhs.uk/CYPrecruitment (you may have to copy and paste this link into your browser) to hear from some of our current staff about why they chose to join and stay at Whittington Health.

Working for our organisation

Medical services have been delivered on the Whittington Hospital site for over 500 years. On 1st April 2011, Whittington Health was launched as a new Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) comprising The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, NHS Islington and NHS Haringey. The Whittington and the community health services in Islington and Haringey are award winning organisations, delivering acute and community based health services to a population of 443,000 people. The organisation is the biggest employer in the area, with over 4,500 staff; delivering healthcare not only on the acute hospital site which has 420 beds, but also from a variety of other community based health centres and through visits to patients homes across the boroughs to address the health needs of the local population. Whittington Health also works with other health, social care and voluntary sector partners to support patients and service users from their initial appointment whether it be with a community health team or at the hospital, all the way through to treatment and tailored after care. We are one of the three main teaching campuses for the Royal Free and University College Medical School. Our ICARE (Innovation, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence) Values not only help us shape what we do, but also how we do it and why. They are fundamental to the way we do business and care for our patients. For more information, please access the following link: https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CLINICAL

1.To demonstrate specialist clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of language and communication difficulties in school age children, providing appropriate intervention and evaluating outcomes

2.To demonstrate specialist knowledge in this clinical area underpinned by current evidence-based practice and outcome measures

3.To demonstrate highly developed auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients/clients

4.To make appropriate differential diagnoses and specialist clinical decisions based on evidence from assessment of complex cases, seeking advice as appropriate

5.To develop knowledge and skill in a range of language and communication difficulties in school age children consulting with clinical supervisor as appropriate.

6.To apply specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision making for case management, developing clear care plans based on best practice

7.To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of patients/clients with language and communication difficulties

8.To communicate complex condition related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions, demonstrating empathy and ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist

9.To work closely with clients, carers and families, to agree plans of management

10.To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible

11.To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties

12.To employ excellent communication skills

13.To develop skills in motivating clients and /or carers to engage in the therapeutic process

14.To maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of clients and their carers in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the child’s difficulties and implications of the same

15.To develop the ability to manage children with challenging behaviours employing appropriate management strategies

16.To monitor and review the progress of clients against the targets set and agreed, and to modify targets as appropriate

17.To adapt practice to meet individual patient/client circumstances

18.To reflect on clinical practice both individually and with peers identifying strengths and development needs, providing evidence of sound clinical judgements, based on research and evidence-based practice.

19.To develop the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of client’s communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness

20.To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a specialist speech and language therapy service.

21.To maintain up to date and accurate case notes and write reports reflecting specialist knowledge, and ensuring that they meet departmental standards and are in line with local Trust Policy, and RCSLT professional standards

22.To demonstrate an awareness of current policies and practice in education

23.To manage and prioritise a defined caseload and workload independently, advising line manager on issues of service delivery including shortfall, service pressures etc

24.To demonstrate skills in dealing with complex issues to generate appropriate strategies for caseload management

25.To contribute to multi-agency assessments, including the statutory educational assessment procedure, as required

26.To demonstrate negotiation skills

27.To negotiate with clients, carers and others around individual case management

28.To develop negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations recognising potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs and seeking advice and support to resolve

29.To ensure that clients are referred to other services as appropriate

30.To develop a working knowledge of the principles of Clinical Governance and their application to professional practice. This will include compliance with / adherence to, and implementation of service and team plans and policies, National and Local Guidelines and RCSLT Professional and Clinical guidelines.

31.To develop a working knowledge of relevant procedures including Safeguarding Children, SEN procedures, Working with Vulnerable Adults and other legal frameworks.

32.To contribute to the local Trust’s systems of clinical governance, participating in and developing innovations in areas of risk management, quality standards setting and clinical effectiveness in collaboration with others

33.To be accountable for own professional action recognising professional boundaries and working within defined departmental and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct, seeking advice as appropriate

34.To work independently accessing appraisal within an Individual Performance Framework at pre-determined intervals

For full job description and person specification, please see attached document.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• BSc. Speech Path or Equivalent (including Dip. CST)
• HCPC licence to practise, and eligible for registered member of RCSLT
• Successful completion of specialist short courses relevant to the field including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Autism, and education practice

Desirable criteria

• Basic Counselling

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

• Able to deliver specialist presentations and training, and adapting style to a range of audiences

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Excellent written communication skills

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Of a specialist range of assessment tools and procedures to evaluate a wide variety of language and communication needs in mainstream schools for school-aged pupils.
• Of the key characteristics leading to a specialist differential diagnosis of a wide range of language and communication difficulties
• Of a specialist range of therapeutic interventions relevant to school age children with a wide variety of language and communication needs demonstrating the evidence base for these approaches
• The application of specialist knowledge of local cultural, linguistic & demographic factors to the management of a school aged caseload
• Of working with children with a wide range of language and communication needs in mainstream schools
• Of writing statutory assessment reports
• Of attending annual reviews and / or case conferences

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS

To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:

• Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
• Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
• Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
• Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
• Participate in required training and supervision.
• Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct

Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.