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Job summary

Main area
Cardio - Respiratory
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 30 hours per week
Job ref
196-LIS9593
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Brompton Hospital
Town
London
Salary
£46,148 - £52,809 p.a. inc HCA (pro rata)
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
19/06/2025 23:59
Interview date
30/06/2025

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 7

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.



Job overview

We are looking for an experienced paediatric Speech Language Therapist with a specialist interest in dysphagia, including videofluoroscopy. 

The successful candidate will be part of a dynamic, innovative, diverse and friendly team, passionate about what we do. We promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, everyone is welcomed. You would be responsible for providing high quality care, including specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning and intervention for patients from neonates to adolescents with complex communication and swallowing problems, on the wards and in is specialist tertiary outpatient clinics 

The role requires specialist knowledge and skills in paediatric dysphagia, infant feeding, tracheostomy, videofluoroscopy, acquired communication disorders, and AAC. You will work closely with the Therapies and wider multidisciplinary teams to provide a person-centred approach to acutely ill infants, children and their families.  You will be required to work with patients across both hospital sites and you will share the care of patients to ensure equity. You will also be required to deliver training and be involved in quality improvement projects. We acknowledge that you might need further development opportunities when in post.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will provide a highly specialised paediatric service, with the majority of the caseload in dysphagia. We have outlined some main responsibilities below. These are further detailed in the job description and personal specifications. 

  • ·  Maintain a high standard of clinical work related to paediatric dysphagia and communication.
  • ·         Provide a specialist assessment, differential diagnosis, and treatment service for infants and children with complex communication, swallowing and feeding issues within the paediatric settings including paediatric intensive care, high dependence unit, wards, radiology and outpatients.
  • ·         Provide comprehensive evaluation of swallowing including participation in videofluoroscopy clinics.
  • ·         To work in all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner. 
  • ·         To actively participation in cross sight peer supervision and line management.
  • ·         To be flexible to the needs of the whole Speech and Language Therapy service and demonstrate ability to work in other clinical areas as directed by lead clinicians and/or relevant Trust leadership.
  • ·         To support both SLT students and students from across the wider MDT.

Working for our organisation

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world- leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. We are taking steps towards a vision of creating a new centre of excellence that will be the global leader in the research and treatment of cardio-respiratory conditions from birth to old age. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with Kings College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities and a National institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. 

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. 

The commitment of our 18,050 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality safe and efficient care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please review full job description document for further details

Please review full job description document for further details

Person specification

Previous experience

Essential criteria
  • Management of dysphagia across the paediatric age range
  • Lead role in videofluoroscopy swallow study
  • Management of feeding and dysphagia in infants
  • Caseload management and prioritisation in a tertiary acute setting
  • Management of acute onset communication impairment in paediatrics
  • Working closely with team members and colleagues to ensure high quality care

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Relevant assessment and therapeutic interventions and an ability to compare relative benefits underpinned by evidence based practice i.e. dysphagia and acute onset communication impairment including videofluoroscopy
  • The roles of other professionals and the principles of partnership working with key professionals in health, education, voluntary and social services
  • The principles of clinical governance, including reflective practice, audit, outcome measures and research methodologies
  • Health Care Professions Council- license to practice
  • Evidence of Masters or equivalent level of specialist training
  • Intermediate dysphagia course

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Highly specialist assessment and management of paediatric feeding/swallowing and acute onset communication difficulties, seeking advice where appropriate (including use of videofluoroscopy swallow study)
  • Use knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements and decision-making for complex cases
  • Engage and negotiate with carers, parents and others around individual case management
  • Ability to reflect on own practice and identify strengths and development needs
  • Recognise potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs and generates potential solutions

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Clare Russell
Job title
Clinical Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
020 7351 8369
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