Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist | Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 17 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £51,488 - £57,802 per annum incl. HCA |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 17 May 2024 |
| Location: | London, SE17EH |
| Company: | Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 6231440/196-LIS8376 |
Summary
Senior Specialist Speech & Language Therapist – Critical Care Band 7 (1WTE, fixed term maternity leave cover until 17thJune 2025)
An exciting position has arisen within our Speech and Language Therapy critical care service at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust to cover maternity leave. We are looking for a dynamic and experienced Speech and Language Therapist to join our existing inpatient team of 26.2 WTE SLTs and 1.4 WTE SLT assistants.
You will be based at St Thomas' Hospital and will be responsible for delivering high-quality care to adult inpatients with communication and/or swallowing disorders as part of a team of 5.2 WTE SLTs working in critical care.
The suitable applicant will have experience of working at a post-graduate level, independently managing adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders, and patients who have tracheostomies and may also be ventilator dependent. Experience of instrumental assessment and leadership/supervision experience is essential. Teaching is a significant part of the role and you will participate in nurse/medical education and provide external talks and presentations as needed.
* Please see Job description for full details
• To take autonomous responsibility for delivering a highly specialist service to adult inpatients referred from Critical Care areas with communication and/or swallowing disorders. This includes patients with tracheostomies and/or ventilator dependency.
• To provide independent clinical management of patients requiring assessment and rehabilitation of complex communication and swallowing disorders, with the aim of restoring optimum function or offering compensatory strategies. This will include assessing the patients’ needs for alternative/augmentative communication where appropriate.
• To contribute to the development of expert Speech and Language Therapy services in Critical care in collaboration with the Clinical Lead SLT, and to be an autonomous advanced specialist resource for treatment of critical care patients on the St Thomas’ site.
• To take responsibility for planning and delivering training in swallowing and communication management to nurses, junior doctors, and medical students working within the Critical Care service, as requested.
There is a strong ethos of clinical support, supervision and development within the team. The service is able to offer you excellent supervision and peer support, with an emphasis on team working. Quality improvement projects and research ideas are strongly encouraged, both within SLT and in the multi-professional teams. We have regular team meetings, plus opportunities for continuing professional development through in-house training, clinical excellence networks and external courses.
*Please see Job Description for full details
• To provide highly specialist independent clinical management of inpatients with complex disorders of swallowing/communication. To demonstrate an advanced level of clinical decision making to assess, make a clinical diagnosis, develop, implement and evaluate specialised treatment programmes with the aim of restoring function or offering compensatory strategies.
• As a core member of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) to influence decision making regarding treatment planning and consequences for rehabilitation of communication and swallowing. To use strong negotiation skills in order to support and advocate for patients and carers, contributing to best interests discussions and decisions.
• As a core member of the MDT to participate in team meetings/working parties and where appropriate propose and assist in implementation of policy/service development.
• To provide highly specialist independent clinical management for patients requiring ventilatory support and /or with tracheostomies in situ presenting with communication and/or swallowing difficulties. To have highly developed knowledge of different modes of ventilation and the impact of mechanical ventilation and respiratory compromise on swallowing and phonation. To have specialist knowledge in methods to establish and facilitate phonation and swallowing function in patients on mechanical ventilation. To offer training, support and second opinions for other members of the SLT team with complex critically ill patients.
This advert closes on Wednesday 1 May 2024