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Job summary

Main area
Speech and Language Therapy
Grade
Band 5
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
249-7200050
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£29,970 - £36,483 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
29/06/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Speech and Language Therapist

Band 5

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a recently-qualified Speech and Language Therapist to join our friendly and dynamic team working with adults with acquired disorders of communication and swallowing.  The role may include a combination of inpatients and outpatients, both in the hospital setting and in the community. This post would provide a valuable opportunity to develop your skills in a wide variety of adult acquired conditions.

Supervision and support will be provided from more experienced and specialist clinicians within the team. CPD opportunities will also be offered. Some knowledge and skills in dysphagia management is preferred.

Main duties of the job

1. With appropriate support from designated and more experienced SLT, be an autonomous practitioner ie, have responsibility and accountability for own caseload of open referrals, requiring admission, treatment and discharge decisions, within own level of competence and professional and service parameters.

2. Assess and analyse type, severity and impact of all conditions of speech, language, communication and within own competency-level swallowing impairments in a wide age range of patients. This will be through a variety of formal and informal assessments and information gathering methods; with a high level of support from designated SLT clinical supervisor.

3. Use and analyse results of some formal standardised assessments and, with support, able to analyse and interpret results in relation to theoretical and clinical knowledge of individual patients.

4. Use and develop further sensory skills, in order to carry out core clinical work, such as acoustic and phonetic transcriptions; structured and detailed observation of verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours; and ability to distinguish between discrete differences in oro-pharyngeal muscle function.

 

Working for our organisation

Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

5. Make differential diagnoses and clinical decisions regarding options for hypothesis driven clinical intervention (eg, whether to treat, type of treatment, frequency and duration of treatment, need for onward referral, re-evaluation and discharge) with significant regular and frequent support for clinical practice from designated SLT clinical supervisor.

6. Concentrate intensely during clinical activities (eg, working with patients for therapeutic interventions, writing reports with recommendations, and acting as an expert witness when called).

7. With support, develop insight, skill and experience to work in partnership with the patient, to determine an intervention programme that balances all aspects of their needs depending on their level of impairment, disability, handicap and distress.

8. Apply best available research evidence and evaluative thinking in all areas of practice.

9. With support, communicate highly complex SLT specialist information and clinical judgements of a sensitive or contentious nature where the situation may be emotive, to patients, carers and family,  and to other members of the clinical team.

10. Develop the ability, with support, to integrate psychosocial, physical, emotional and environmental factors within a holistic patient centred approach, while working towards a specific therapeutic goal.

Please refer to the JD for full responsibilities

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Degree in Speech and Language Therapy (or equivalent qualification)
  • Licence to practice from Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, which is issued following attainment of degree as well as the successful completion of the requisite number of hours in clinical placement
  • Registration with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
  • Membership of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Relevant experience working with adults during student placements.

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Have knowledge of the use of some formal assessments of speech and language and, with support, able to analyse and interpret results in relation to theoretical and clinical knowledge of individual patients.
  • Have highly developed awareness of own sensory skills, to interpret information in order to carry out core clinical work, such as: - acoustic and phonetic transcriptions; structured and detailed observation of verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours; and ability to distinguish between discrete differences in oro-pharyngeal muscle function.
  • To be able to demonstrate empathy, support and reassurance to individuals who have a communication and/or swallowing impairment and with their carers and families
  • Have good knowledge of the integration of psychosocial, physical, emotional and environmental factors within a holistic patient centred approach, while working towards a specific therapeutic goal.
Desirable criteria
  • Some knowledge and skills in the assessment and management of dysphagia is desirable (able to see non-complex cases under supervision

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: Goldhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kickstart-scheme-employer-resources/kickstart-scheme-brand-guidelinesStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed 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
Jo Field
Job title
Head of Speech and Language Therapy
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 605101
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