Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for a Band 7 Speech and Language Therapist to join our growing service in the area of community neurology care.
The post will be primarily based in Redbridge and will involve MDT working to assess and manage swallowing and communication difficulties of patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND.
The NELFT Speech and Language Therapy service provides a service to adults with acquired disorders in the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge. The successful candidate will join a supportive and innovative team with established clinical specialists across multiple fields, including progressive neurology, head and neck cancers, and voice disorders.
We are interested in recruiting an individual who is able to provide a thorough, evidence-based and holistic approach to patient care. The successful candidate will be responsible for independent assessment and management of patients with acquired communication and swallowing difficulties. You will be expected to supervise junior colleagues and provide training to other healthcare professionals. Clinical support will be provided by the Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapists in adult neurology and head and neck/ENT.
Main duties of the job
1. Independently manage and differential diagnose a caseload of clients with neurological conditions and complex dysphagia needs within the Speech and Language team in Redbridge.
2. Devise and deliver appropriate highly specialist intervention/care plans for clients with complex needs and provide suitable and timely support.
3. Contribute to multidisciplinary support for clients with a range of swallow and communication difficulties.
4. Provide feedback, advice and training to family members, carers and members of the multidisciplinary team regarding communication needs and swallowing difficulties and strategies to facilitate development.
5. Develop and deliver training and support packages.
6. To participate in the delivery and development of the LSVT service to patients that require this service.
7. To participate in the delivery and development of the Videofluoroscopy / FEES Clinic as a member of the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Team
8. To provide highly specialist clinical/technical skills for interpretive assessment techniques, reading videofluoroscopic / FEES examinations.
9. To provide supervision and leadership to junior speech and language therapy
All team members are encouraged to attend training in, and lead, formal quality improvement projects, with the team winning the trust’s Make a Difference Award for Quality Improvement in 2019. Members of the team regularly present their projects at national conferences.
Working for our organisation
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,551 to a maximum of £5,735 pro rata for part time).
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.
References
Please ensure that the references are from your most recent employer and one of these must be your direct Line Manager or Supervisor. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. Additionally, ensure that any gaps in your employment history are clearly indicated. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.
Person specification
Other
Essential criteria
10. To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area
Skills
Essential criteria
11. Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
12. Demonstrate clear clinical reasoning based on evidence based practice
13. Able to use own initiative
14. Organise and manage own caseload
15. Allocate duties and supervise therapy assistants
16. Good supervision skills
17. Formulate care programmes, identify goals by organising and prioritising
18. Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy
19. Negotiation, problem solving concentration, analytical and reflection skills
20. Written and verbal presentation skills
21. Present information in clear and logical manner
22. Ability to be a good team member
Knowledge
Essential criteria
23. An awareness of NHS priorities
24. Awareness of NHS Plan, NSF, clinical governance priorities and changing service needs
25. Government policy and legislation and how this may affect service delivery
26. Knowledge of acquired communication and swallowing disorders
27. Knowledge of assessment tools, treatment techniques and therapeutic interventions
28. Awareness of the roles of other professionals
29. Awareness of standards of record keeping
30. Understanding of safeguarding
Desirable criteria
31. Awareness of the principles of clinical governance/audit
Experience
Essential criteria
32. Significant relevant experience at undergraduate/post graduate level
33. Working collaboratively with carers and other professionals
34. Experience of working in a multi-agency and/or multi-disciplinary team
35. Working with clients who have a range of speech, language and communication needs resulting from neurological conditions
36. Planning and delivery of training to other professionals
Desirable criteria
37. Experience of videofluroscopy clinic
38. Experience of running a FEES clinic
Qualifications
Essential criteria
39. NVQ level 2 or equivalent standard of literacy and numeracy
40. Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
41. HCPC Licence to Practice
42. Show active interest in CPD in line with RCSLT guidelines
43. Post graduate training in dysphagia
44. Competencies in working with patients with neurological conditions
Desirable criteria
45. Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy
46. Competencies in FEES
47. Competencies in videofluroscopy
Trust Values
Essential criteria
48. Demonstrates 5Ps
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
49. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
50. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
51. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
52. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.