Job overview

The post holder will provide a highly specialist speech and language therapy service for children and young people with severe and complex learning difficulties in Perseid special schools, in accordance with the Service Level Agreement for Sutton Health and Care Alliance.

They will contribute to the development of the special schools speech and language therapy service for children and young people.  They will plan and provide highly specialist speech and language therapy assessment, advice and treatment to a defined caseload of children and young people with severe and complex needs.  They will work in partnership with the children and young people, their families and with other professions and agencies, including school staff and the wider health team, to reduce the impact of these difficulties on the children’s and young people’s social and emotional development, their learning and their ability to participate in daily life.

They will work autonomously and without direct supervision and be accountable for their own actions.

Main duties of the job

General Duties

·       Be responsible for a clinical caseload of children and young people attending Perseid special schools as identified by the service specification, managing a defined caseload independently and prioritising own workload to ensure effective service provision

·       Manage the needs of children and young people presenting with eating and drinking difficulties, including assessment, diagnosis and treatment as appropriate

·       Provide support and training to families and school staff to enable eating and drinking programmes to be implemented as part of clients’ therapy packages

·       To assess, diagnose, treat and manage a defined caseload of Early years children with complex communication needs within the school including the use of AAC devices where identified

·       Provide training to enable speech and language communication programmes to be implemented as part of the client’s therapy package

·       Be involved in planning the development of the speech and language service in liaison with the school management team, Therapy lead, and Service Manager for Children’s Specialist Nursing and Therapies

·       Act as a resource to the SHC Alliance speech and language service and other agencies.

Working for our organisation

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey. Our sites include St George’s Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC). 

 After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.

At gesh we are committed to supporting flexible working arrangements. Applicants are encouraged to discuss any flexibility they may need during the recruitment process.