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Job summary

Main area
Speech and Language Therapy
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent: Participation in weekend rota required
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Participation in weekend rota required)
Job ref
197-R-UT7363
Employer
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich
Town
London
Salary
£38,682 - £46,580 per annum plus HCAS
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
19/10/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust logo

Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Band 6

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over  staying comfortable; Listening  over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

Specialist Speech & Language Therapist1.0 WTE 

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to join our adult acute Speech & Language Therapy team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich!  We are proud to be part of Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust who serve a diverse & multicultural local community.  

Our SLT teams are friendly & inclusive, we work closely across the MDT & value audit & quality improvement to better refine & develop our services.  We have strong links with other acute & community Speech & Language Therapy services within the Trust & our local areas.

We are looking for a therapist who has previously held an independent dysphagia caseload and demonstrates experience of working with adults with acquired disorders with established competence in both dysphagia & communication disorder management.  

Our Band 6 roles offer excellent opportunities to build on acute assessment and therapy skills including developing or expanding on existing competencies in objective assessment (both VF & FEES) and tracheostomy management.

Main duties of the job

 A typical day might include:

  • Assessment and treatment for patients with communication and swallowing disorders
  • Working with patients who are tracheostomised as part of the MDT
  • Participation in weekly VF clinics and FEES assessments on the medical wards 
  • Supervision of Junior staff and students as necessary
  • Participating in Quality Improvement and service development projects within the team and wider trust

The successful candidate will share our commitment to excellence & ensure high standards of evidence based therapy practice.  Within our lovely team, you will benefit from diverse opportunities to engage in regular supervision, in-house & external CPD, action learning sessions, leadership development, peer supervision and advanced skill development such as FEES and VF.  You will be supported & encouraged to complete & participate in audit, research & quality improvement projects as relevant to your role.

Contact us for an informal chat in confidence, or arrange a visit and allow us to welcome you to the department.  

Helen Sampson, Cross-site Lead - Adult Speech and Language Therapy, [email protected]

At Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust, our hospitals & community bases are easily accessed from central London by overland rail, the new! Elizabeth line, DLR & bus.

Working in Therapies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVS-EjGWloM

"This is what a therapist looks like" - YouTube

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

  1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
  2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
  3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
  4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
  5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

  • To provide a specialist SLT service to patients from acute (medical and surgical) and Critical Care wards at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich  
  • To assess, diagnose and manage adult clients with acquired swallowing and\or communication disorders, using sound theoretical knowledge to inform advice, support and therapy.
  • To work closely with the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) in the management and discharge planning of these patients in an acute setting
  • To assist the Head of Speech and Language Therapy with service evaluation and development

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Site Lead SALT

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapists - Acute team

L&G Acute and ITU Consultants

All Therapists/Leads in Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy / Dietetics

All L&G Speech and Language Therapy Staff

L&G nursing staff

Referring Hospitals

Social Services

Community Services

Home Enteral Nutrition Team MDT & Community Head & Neck Team

GPs

Voluntary Services

Academic Institutions

Acute & Stroke Specialists external to L&G

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria
  • Degree in Speech and Language Therapy
  • Fully registered member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
  • Registration with HCPC
  • Successful completion of post graduate dysphagia training

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Relevant experience of working with adult acquired disorders, including independent practice in dysphagia management.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of working with patients with tracheostomies in critical care and acute inpatient settings.
  • Awareness of and experience with objective assessment methods for dysphagia including Videofluoroscopy and FEES

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of knowledge of own clinical skills and initiative in continuing development
  • Knowledge of evidence base for effective treatment for adults with communication and swallowing disorders
  • Knowledge of particular needs of patients in this setting
  • Knowledge of national policies and guidelines relevant to setting
  • In-depth knowledge of assessment tools relevant to assessment of acquired disorders
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of recent changes in NHS

PERSONAL QUALITIES & SKILLS

Essential criteria
  • Ability to learn from clinical experience
  • Ability to apply theoretical knowledge to clinical practice
  • Ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing
  • Ability to work as a member of a team
  • Basic IT skills
Desirable criteria
  • Ability to supervise students and newly qualified Speech and Language Therapists
  • Ability to carry out audit

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDCapital Nurse, LondonVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoTimewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.No smoking policyLondon Living Wage is a voluntary commitment made by employers, who can become accredited with the Living Wage FoundationAge positiveDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)We offer Wagestream - A financial wellbeing benefit which lets you access your pay as you earn it.NHS Rainbow badgePrince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingArmed Forces Covenant

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
Helen Sampson
Job title
Cross-site Lead - Adult Speech & Language Therapy
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07799 241614
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