Job summary
- Main area
- Learning Disability
- Grade
- Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (will consider flexible working hours)
- Job ref
- 350-SC8025808
- Employer
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Willis House
- Town
- Prescott
- Salary
- £39,959 - £48,117 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Band 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
Using AI to support your application
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a helpful tool when preparing your application, supporting you to organise and structure your application and present your experiences clearly. However, we want to hear about your experiences and achievements. Please ensure everything you submit is truthful, accurate, and reflects your own work and experience. Your authentic story is the best way to help us understand who you are and what you can bring to the role. If content appears to be copied or misrepresented, it may impact the outcome of your application. We encourage you to use AI responsibly as a support tool, not a substitute for your own voice.
For tips and guidance, please refer to our applicant guidance.
Your experiences matter, let them shine.
Applications that appear mostly or fully generated by AI, without clear personal examples linked to the person specification, may be rejected.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job overview
Are you seeking a speech & language therapy role within a well-established multi-disciplinary team of skilled and experienced clinicians? If you want to develop your own clinical skills with a people who have a Learning Disability in the community this could be the post for you.
This role gives the post holder a unique opportunity to work with a large Specialist Learning Disability Team and to develop their knowledge and skills.
Our Speech & Language Therapists work with adults who have communication and/or swallowing difficulties so must be Dysphagia trained also for this role.
We work in community settings, including home visits and clinics and work as an MDT including Nursing, OT, Physio and Psychology practitioners
We value CPD and carry out robust clinical supervision and appraisals to encourage therapists’ specialist interests and innovation
Main duties of the job
To provide evidence-based Speech and Language Therapy assessment and intervention to service users who have communication and/or eating and drinking difficulties and have a diagnosis of Learning Disability.
The role will be integrated within the multi -disciplinary team and will work with the team to develop person-centred care plans.
Supervision will be provided by a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.
To participate as a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with specific responsibility to assess and treat adults with complex health needs.
To be responsible for the delivery of specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment, delivery and evaluation of evidence-based Speech and Language Therapy intervention in the community for clients with
communication and swallowing disorders, such as dysphagia.
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To be responsible and accountable for their own caseload and ensure that care plans are written and reviewed regularly.
To contribute to the prioritisation of the waiting list for Speech and Language Therapy.
To complete Holistic assessments on behalf of the team and feedback to the multi-disciplinary team and support duty process in the team.
To work alongside and liaise with other professionals within the team, staff at day centres, care staff and families.
To provide clinical advice and assessment to these on the communication and swallowing needs of clients, resolving areas of conflict as necessary.
To provide specialist knowledge on alternative and augmentative systems of communication, where appropriate. To ensure that all relevant agencies have access to all systems.
To Identify and take responsibility for allocating work and providing supervision to Speech and Language Therapy assistants.
To provide training days to staff teams around specific individual’s communication to devise strategies and management plans.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Accredited Speech and Language Therapy qualification (BSc)
- Registration with HCPC
Desirable criteria
- Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist (RCSLT)
- Post graduate training/qualification in Dysphagia
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Experience with provision of supervision and delegation to junior members of staff
- Experience of use of outcome measures for clinical evaluation
- Driving License
- Basic IT Skills (Microsoft Software: Excel, World, Power Point, MS Teams)
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- A philosophy and approach that empowers people
- Knowledge of alternative and augmentative communication and dysphagia
- A person -centred approach to service delivery
- Understanding of current NHS changes
Skills
Essential criteria
- A demonstrated understanding of Equality and Human Rights
- Ability to convey information and skills to direct care staff
- Good time management and organizational skills
- Flexible approach skills towards service change, demands and pressure
Desirable criteria
- Experience of providing clinical supervision (to students or SaLT staff)
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
- Michell Burkhill/ Emma Dixon
- Job title
- Clinical Team Manager/AHP Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01514265885
- Additional information
Please call for an informal chat if you would like to know more about the post.
List jobs with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust in Allied Health Professions or all sectors