Job summary
- Main area
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 196-LIS10551E
- Employer
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Waldron Health Centre
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £58,133 - £65,261 per annum inc. H.C.A.
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 28/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Advanced Specialist Speech & Language Therapist (CHANT)
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 seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Speech and Language Therapist with specialist skills in managing adults with acquired disorders of swallowing and communication secondary to Head and Neck Cancer and its treatment.
You will be based in the community, as a core member of the Southeast London Community Head and Neck Cancer Team (CHANT). You will work closely with the CHANT multidisciplinary team members, providing highly specialist care, closer to home.
You will have significant postgraduate specialist experience of managing patients with complex swallowing and communication disorders associated with a diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. You will be able to demonstrate competence in independently managing patients with a tracheostomy and surgical voice restoration. You will have a high level of competence in undertaking videofluoroscopy and knowledge and experience of interpreting and reporting FEES. You will also have a proven track record of working as an autonomous specialist SLT within a multidisciplinary team. As part of this role you will be required to supervise SLTs.
The service is able to offer you excellent supervision and peer support, with a strong emphasis on team working. We have regular team meetings, plus opportunities for CPD.
Main duties of the job
Please see attached Job Description for full details.
- To provide highly specialist Speech & Language Therapy input to a multidisciplinary client focussed rehabilitation service based in the Community for adults with Head & Neck Cancer.
- To integrate and closely liaise with the Acute Head & Neck multidisciplinary team based at the Cancer Centre (GSTFT) in order to deliver a seamless rehabilitative service to this population.
- To undertake advanced diagnosis, assessment and treatment of patients with a range of communication and swallowing disorders arising from Head & Neck Cancer and the treatment thereof.
- To both participate in and proactively facilitate the development of this innovative multidisciplinary team at all stages along the patient pathway.
Working for our organisation
The Adult Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Department at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital consists of 26.2 WTE SLTs and 1.4 WTE SLT Assistants. We have considerable expertise within the team with members representing the profession on a number of regional and national groups as well as contributing to both local and national guidance and research.
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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Clinical
- To provide highly specialist autonomous clinical management of patients with Head & Neck Cancer referred to the Community Team.
- To demonstrate an advanced level of clinical decision making to assess, make a clinical diagnosis, develop, implement and evaluate specialised treatment programmes.
- As an autonomous member of the Head & Neck Community Team to participate in team decision making regarding organisation and prioritisation of the clinical caseload and work within the multidisciplinary team framework to provide co-ordinated multi-disciplinary care for the benefit of all patients.
- To refer for / initiate appropriate investigations e.g. Videofluoroscopy / nasendoscopy / FEES and participate in the evaluation of / evaluate these assessments in order to make recommendations for further interventions.
- To be an expert resource for other SLTs/other professional staff involved in the patient’s care with particular reference to the management of Head & Neck Cancer patients.
- To demonstrate an awareness of religious, cultural and socioeconomic issues, working effectively in all settings e.g. clients own home, residential and nursing homes, including settings which are difficult or challenging.
- To demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and measurement of outcome.
Professional / Managerial
- To assist the Lead clinician (Head & Neck Community Team) in responding to and initiating service developments including the development and implementation of guidelines and protocols, which may impact on the wider Community Service delivery.
- To be responsible for providing day to day clinical/professional supervision of any junior SLT staff and SLT students. To carry out appraisals for delegated team members as appropriate in line with Trust Policy and keep the Lead clinician informed of any issues relevant to their clinical development/training needs.
- To participate in regular 1:1 meetings with the Lead Clinician/Clinical Lead Speech & Language Therapist at the Centre as appropriate.
Education & Training
- To keep up-to-date with current theory and evidence based practice in the field of complex communication disorders and dysphagia in the Head & Neck Cancer population.
- To participate in the regular Videofluoroscopy and FEES in-service meeting with the GSTFT SLT team.
- To offer regular placements and clinical training to Speech and Language Therapy students.
Research/Audit
- To develop / take the lead in as appropriate, multidisciplinary audits including data collection, analysis and development of action plans as part of the Community Team/Multidisciplinary Head & Neck Team’s annual audit programme/initiatives.
- To participate as an Advanced Specialist Speech & Language Therapy resource in appropriate Head & Neck Multidisciplinary research activity.
- To undertake such other duties as shall be indicated by the Lead clinician (Head & Neck Community Team) and Clinical Lead SLT (GSTFT) to meet the exigencies of the service and/or needs of the patients.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree leading to license to practice as an SLT
- Masters or equivalent level of post-graduate specialist training short courses, specific training and membership of relevant National CEN
- Advanced videofluoroscopy training
- Head and Neck Oncology specific dysphagia training
- Attended basic/intermediate SVR courses
Desirable criteria
- Advanced SVR Training
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant specialist experience working with adults with acquired dysphagia / communication impairment including those with tracheostomies and following Head & Neck surgery
- Demonstrable experience of working with a caseload of laryngectomy patients
- Support and supervision of junior SLT staff.
- Informal/formal training of other professionals
Skills
Essential criteria
- Evidence of advanced independent management of patients with SVR
- Able to demonstrate ability to carry out and evaluate videofluoroscopy with a Head and Neck Oncology caseload.
- Knowledge/ experience of instrumental assessment of swallowing using FEES
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Ashlie Denison
- Job title
- Clinical Team Lead (CHANT)
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 02030492350
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