Job summary
- Main area
- Speech and Language Therapist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 311-S645-25
- Employer
- Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- The Meadows
- Town
- Stockport
- Salary
- £37,338 - £44,962 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 26/05/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 03/06/2025
Employer heading
Speech and Language Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 6
If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our #PennineCarePeople
https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/values
Job overview
The post holder will provide an efficient and high quality speech & language therapy service within the Older People’s Mental Health Service. As an experienced autonomous practitioner they will assess, diagnose and treat service users with communication problems and/or dysphagia in community and inpatient settings covered by this service. The post holder will participate in Continuing Professional Development, clinical audit and in service training.
Main duties of the job
Main Duties & Responsibilities
- To work within the most appropriate location for the service user i.e. ward or in a community setting including nursing and residential homes as required
- Team working and good communication skills are paramount within this role
Working for our organisation
We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.
Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.
All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.
If you come and work for us we will offer a range of benefits and opportunities, including:
- Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
- Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance
- Access to Continued Professional Development
- Involvement in improvement and research activities
- Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service
- Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical Responsibilities
- To be responsible for managing a defined speech and language therapy caseload within the Older People’s Mental Health Service
- To adhere to national and local standards and guidelines relating to Professional Practice including RCSLT, NICE etc
- To be responsible for assessment, differential diagnosis, formulation of treatment plans, writing assessment reports, providing appropriate intervention and evaluating the treatment outcome for each individual patient
- To prioritise, organise and manage a clinical caseload to ensure efficient and effective high quality patient care
- To review and discharge individual patients
- To seek second opinions when necessary
- To make onward referrals when appropriate
- To accept support from designated colleagues
- To offer advice to relatives/carers and significant others about individual patients and demonstrate practical procedures when appropriate
- To communicate complex condition-related information to patients, service users, carers and other staff in an appropriate manner.
- To set and maintain a high standard of clinical practice and encourage and motivate other members of the team
- To maintain levels of professional competence and clinical knowledge according to the needs of the service
- To offer clinical/professional advice within a multi-disciplinary setting to work collaboratively with patients and relatives/carers and other professionals and voluntary agencies to provide a model of care which addresses the patients’ needs
- To attend appropriate patient related meetings e.g. ward rounds, case conferences, discharge meetings ensuring effective communication of the patient’s speech and language therapy needs
- To work with volunteers and therapy support workers
Person specification
Other
Essential criteria
- • Use of a car or access to a means of mobility
Knowledge, Training and Experience
Essential criteria
- • Degree level qualification Speech/Language/ Pathology/Therapy
- • HCPC licence to practice
- • Proven post registration experience of working with acquired communication and swallowing difficulties
- • Evidence of attendance on relevant specialist short courses to maintain and develop a sound knowledge base of a specialist therapist working in the field of adult acquired swallowing and communication difficulties
- • Certificate in dysphagia or equivalent – in-depth practical experience in the field of dysphagia
- • Maintenance of clinical knowledge base/level of professional competency across the range of acquired communication and swallowing disorders to ensure evidence based practice
- • Able to manage caseload independently
- • Able to identify areas of own personal/professional development
Desirable criteria
- Membership of R.C.S.L.T
- Demonstrable experience of working with people with dementia
- Supervision of junior staff or support workers
Communication & Relationship Skills
Essential criteria
- • Able to communicate effectively with members of the MDT
- • Able to train/teach students, other professionals and assistants
- • Able to communicate complex and changing information to clients, carers and other professionals in a sensitive manner
- • Able to communicate complex condition related information from assessment to clients, carers and other professionals
- • Able to negotiate with other professionals, patients and their carers
- • Able to communicate complex material clearly
- • Able to provide potentially distressing information in a sensitive manner, showing empathy and understanding
- • Able to adapt communication style to overcome barriers to understanding
- • Sensitive interpersonal skills to facilitate therapeutic relationships
- • Able to communicate effectively with angry or distressed patients/relatives
- • Use of basic counselling skills with patients, carers with highly complex needs
Desirable criteria
- Further training in counselling
- Further training in end of life issues
Analytical & Judgement Skills
Essential criteria
- • Able to analyse and evaluate results of formal/informal assessments of communication and swallowing
- • Able to make judgements including complex facts and situations
- • Able to analyse, interpret and compare a range of options for individual therapy programmes
- • Able to evaluate outcomes and modify approach to maximise outcome
- • Able to problem solve
- • Able to reflect on practice with peers
Clinical skills & Responsibility for Patient Care
Essential criteria
- • Able to assess and treat a broad range of neurologically based communication disorders
- • Able to develop and implement specialised treatment programmes
- • Able to structure clear care plans which reflect best practice
- • Able to adapt therapeutic approach to meet the needs of individual clients
- • Able to be flexible and adaptable
- • Competent in the assessment/management of dysphagia in adults
- • Able to recognise own clinical/experience boundaries and seek support when appropriate
Desirable criteria
- Able to identify areas for own personal/ professional development
Planning & Organisational Skills
Essential criteria
- • Able to prioritise clinical caseload
- • Able to manage own time and prioritise tasks
- • Able to delegate appropriate tasks to support workers
Policy/Service Development
Essential criteria
- • Able to apply policies to own work area and identify potential difficulties
- • Basic understanding of NHS structures and systems
Financial & Physical Resources
Essential criteria
- • Able to identify resources required for own work role
- • Able to create basic resources for work with individual clients
Information Skills
Essential criteria
- • Excellent written communication skills
- • Able to keep accurate records of therapy and up-to-date patient notes
- • Able to produce detailed, accurate, timely reports
- • Understanding of patient record systems on wards and in the community
- • Basic IT skills
Desirable criteria
- Awareness of range of software available for therapeutic purposes
Physical, mental & emotional skills and effort
Essential criteria
- • Excellent observational skills
- • Highly developed sensory skills: auditory when discriminating phonetics and swallow sounds, and touch when digitally assessing swallowing
- • Able to manage the emotional consequences of working with communication impaired clients and their relatives, in distressing situations, such as late stage terminal illness or coming to terms with disability
- • Able to deal with the emotional consequences of working with communication/swallow impaired clients in distressing circumstances ie degenerative/terminal conditions requiring palliative treatment/approach
- • Able to be flexible to the demands of the environment including unpredictable working patters, deadlines and frequent disruptions
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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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
- Sara Panter
- Job title
- Service Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01617164505
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