Job summary
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Parkinson's Pathway
We are really excited to be able to offer a 2 year fixed term contact working with Parkinson's UK to develop a Speech and Language pathway of care for patients with Parkinson's Disease. We hope that this will become a substantive role following the fixed term period and successful implementation of project goals.
Working in an innovative structure funded across 2 NHS Trusts you will be working within the teams in both the acute and community sectors to ensure excellent care for our Parkinson's patients at all stages of their diagnosis.
Both services prioritise your wellbeing and development. We have expert clinicians in the areas of critical care and ICU, ENT, Head and Neck Cancer, Stroke, Acute, Community care and instrumental assessments. We have strong working relationships with the MDT including specialist nurses, consultants and therapists with special interests in Parkinson's Disease.
We would love to talk to you about this, please feel free to get in touch to arrange a visit or discuss the role further.
Main duties of the job
You will be working with Parkinson's UK and the SLT services at Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust (RBHFT) and Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (BHFT) to create a SLT pathway of care for patients with Parkinson's Disease.
Within this pathway you will ensure early contact with the SLT service for people with Parkinson's following their diagnosis, provide support at specialist MDT clinics within the RBH and support and manage communication and swallowing difficulties both in the inpatient and community settings dependent on patient need. You, working with other therapists across both services, will be the point of contact for SLT for those with a Parkinson's diagnosis.
As the Specialist SLT you would be expected to liaise with other MDT Parkinson's specialists working in this area and review the services available for people across both community and acute providers.
There will be access to both VF and FEES inpatient and outpatient clinics, as well as close working relationships with ENT colleagues. The acute and community trusts have a strong working relationship with a number of joint ventures and cross service supervision relationships.
About us
Reading sits on the river Thames and is served by great road and rail links to London, Oxford and Southampton. With excellent leisure and shopping facilities, and a thriving cultural scene, Reading is a wonderful place to live, work and play and provides excellent facilities for families, including some of the best state and private schools in the UK.
The CQC recently rated the care provided by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust as Good.
Our values: C ompassionate, A spirational, R esourceful, E xcellent, reflect the type of Trust we aspire to be and you can join our dedicated and talented staff to make this happen.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For further details on the Job role, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification attached.
Person Specification
Education/Training/Qualifications
Essential
1. Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent License to Practice.
2. Registered member of HCPC
3. MSc or at least 3 years' experience in co-working with expert practitioners and undertaking specialist formal training.
Continuous Professional Development
Essential
4. Evidence of successful post-graduate study through CPD portfolio
5. Relevant specialist experience post qualification with evidence of learning
Previous Experience
Essential
6. Experience in inter-agency working
7. Experience in developing and delivering training packages to other disciplines, carers and service users
8. Experience in inter-agency working
9. Ability to work independently and with a team
Desirable
10. At least 3 years post-graduate experience at band 6
Knowledge, skills and abilities
Essential
11. Good negotiation and problem solving skills
12. Excellent interpersonal skills - including observation, listening and empathy skills
13. Excellent presentation skills, both written and verbal
14. Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills
15. Knowledge of national policies and procedures both NHS, Government and local Authority
16. Knowledge of relevant procedures and other relevant legal frameworks including Safeguarding Adults, Mental Capacity Act
17. A willingness to take responsibility and drive forward service improvements.