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Job summary

Main area
Speech and Language Therapy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
196-LIS9672
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Intermediate Care Team- Southwark
Town
London
Salary
£70,387 - £80,465 pa inc HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
13/07/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Consultant Speech and Language Therapist – Adult Community Services

NHS AfC: Band 8b

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 have an exciting new post for a Speech and Language Therapist to work across our community teams planning strategically the future of SLT by ensuring the skills and expertise of clinicians are extended and prioritised to assess and treat our patients in their own homes and community settings. This is a new role for the community, you will develop this role across our teams, setting up business planning and looking at succession planning working with several high-profile established multi-disciplinary specialties.
You will support the workforce to meet the needs of our local populations alongside stretching and considering business opportunities for the future. You will be liaising with clinical leads ensuring there are  clinical outcomes relevant to specialist areas, audits and research practices, including holding your own clinical case load.  
To excel in this role, you must show:
•    Experience in collaborative working with internal and external stakeholders.
•    A strong, proven track record of inclusive leadership and staff management.
•    A proven history of clinical leadership experience and clinical expertise in dysphagia.
•    A high level of organisational skills to facilitate the delivery of planned work and the unplanned/unpredictable requirements associated with the role.
•    Hold a case load 
We encourage applicants from all backgrounds.
Closing: 13th July 2025
Proposed Interview date: 22nd July 2025

Main duties of the job

  • Partner with the Trust and local areas to strategically develop community SLT services.
  • Collaborate with academic institutions and lead on education, training, research and practice development in community SLT.
  •  Lead innovations in community SLT delivery, working with relevant stakeholders and external agencies.
  • Develop research and education in community SLT services.
  • Provide expert clinical reasoning and specialist support in SLT services to colleagues and partners.
  • Identify clinical research, quality improvement and data collection priorities within SLT to drive improvements and clinical expertise for SLTs working the in community.
  • Provide professional and clinical leadership to facilitate the development and implementation of high-quality, evidence-based training programmes.
  • Lead in the development of a Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow (FEES) service in community, collaborating with existing services (e.g., CHANT) and the acute service.
  • Supervise the community SLT staff within ILS including performance management, recruitment, retention and ongoing team development.
  • With Service and Clinical leads, maintain and improve clinical governance, evidence-based practice, and quality assurance across community SLT services.

Working for our organisation

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best-known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

We are among the UK’s busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark.

We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and – as part of King’s Health Partners – we are one of England’s eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research.

We have around 22,700 staff, making us one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country and one of the biggest employers locally. We aim to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and continue to develop new and existing partnerships with local people, patients, and neighbouring NHS organisations, local authorities and charitable bodies and GPs.

We strive to recruit and retain the best staff as the dedication and skills of our employees lie at the heart of our organisation and ensure that our services are of the highest quality, safe and focused on our patients.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description for complete details and key responsibilities for this role.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Degree in SLT with license to practice
  • Registered Member HCPC
  • Masters or equivalent level of post-graduate specialist training short courses, specific training
  • Evidence of ongoing professional development – professional portfolio
  • Attended Masters level dysphagia training to independent practice at advanced level
  • Management qualification / post graduate experience in team leader / management role
Desirable criteria
  • Registered MRCSLT
  • Advanced competency in videofluoroscopy
  • Advanced competency in FEES or willing to train and develop and expand to community services

Previous experience

Essential criteria
  • Extensive advanced specialist experience working with adults with acquired disorders of swallowing and communication
  • Significant experience of working as an integrated member of an MDT
  • Experience of workforce planning and implementing service developments
  • Proven track record of support and supervision of junior staff including performance management, recruitment and selection in a lead role
  • Previous experience of conducting quality improvement projects and implementing change
  • Sound knowledge of a range of AAC
  • Experience of QI / research
  • Experience of writing protocols, guidance and policies
Desirable criteria
  • Previous successful publication of articles in peer reviewed journals
  • Experience working in a range of community settings
  • Experience of integrated working across organisational boundaries i.e. acute and community; health, education and social care

Skills/Knowledge/ Ability

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of advanced independent management of complex dysphagia communication / swallowing disorders
  • Able to demonstrate ability to evaluate and interpret videofluoroscopy results at advanced level
  • Able evaluate and interpret FEES at advanced level
  • Knowledge of current National initiatives in Frailty and community care
  • Comprehensive research skills: able to review papers, submissions and documents. Ability to search, appraise, review and determine implementation plans as appropriate.
  • Advanced sensory skills to facilitate auditory discrimination of speech sound / voice quality at the highest level
  • Ability to analyse and problem solve complex clinical and non-clinical issues and demonstrate creativity in producing practical solutions.
Desirable criteria
  • Able to demonstrate ability to carry out and evaluate FEES at advanced level

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
Louise Turpin
Job title
Deputy Chief AHP, Integrated Local Services
Email address
[email protected]
Additional information

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