Employer Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Ridge Hill Centre Town Stourbridge Salary £29,970 - £36,483 pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 09/07/2025 23:59
Speech and Language Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 5
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist mental health, learning disability, and community healthcare services for the population of the Black Country.
Across the whole of the region we provide:
* Adult and older adult mental health services
* Specialist learning disability services
* Mental health services for children and young people
* Community healthcare services for children, young people and families in Dudley
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed on 1 April 2020, with the merger of Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Combining resources, strategies and talented workforce enables us to deliver a wider variety of outstanding services that are based on best practice and are continually improving.
We currently employ over 4,000 people and just like the population we serve, we are made up of diverse cultures and backgrounds. Whatever your role, working in a NHS Foundation Trust, like ours, is a demanding and extremely rewarding experience. Knowing that every day you can help to make a positive difference to someone’s life is a very powerful feeling. We know that our Trust runs on this desire to help and support people, and our Trust vision expresses this. Our vision is to improve health and wellbeing for everyone, especially our colleagues to achieve the best possible work/life balance.
We proudly offer supportive, inclusive and family friendly employment and flexible working policies. We have a wide range of professional services and employee networks to help our colleagues be at their best - and find support if they need it. To find more about our staff benefits, please visit our website: blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk.
Don’t meet every single requirement?Studies have shown that women and ethnic minority candidates are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Black Country Healthcare we recognise and value all forms of knowledge and expertise, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification or criteria in the job description/person specification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
For further supporting information to help you apply for this role please see documents attached under ‘Additional documents’.
Job overview
Would you like to be part of community Speech and Language Therapy for adults with Learning Disabilities and to develop your skills and career in this area?
The post holder will be working within a Learning Disability specialist community team across the Black Country area. This is an innovative team of different disciplines and specialties who will give a supportive start to your career.
You would be working with our teams of therapists and assistants, providing a communication service for this varied population. There would also be opportunity to build on dysphagia competencies in this role.
Main duties of the job
Assess, diagnose and manage the communication and/or swallowing needs of patients receiving clinical assessment and intervention in community settings. Responsible for initial patient diagnosis and assessment under the supervision of a senior SLT clinician:
· Collection of detailed case history information
· Informal assessment and observation
· Undertakes clinical work with individuals and groups of clients
· Uses formal standardised assessment and informal assessment procedures
· Reads and abides by risk assessments relating to patients of the service
· Communicates assessment and therapeutic findings within the multi-disciplinary team
· Completes contemporaneous case notes and written clinical information completion according to Trust procedures
· Undertakes clinical work with individuals and groups of clients with guidance from senior SLT
· Develops coordinated multidisciplinary programmes of care / care packages
· Makes decisions leading to SLT review or discharge of clients and/or referral to other services, as appropriate
· Is responsible for managing own community clinical caseload under guidance of a more senior clinician
Working for our organisation
We are a forward-thinking, friendly and supportive Trust with dedicated therapy services. We have therapy staff working across the service within the community, enhanced inpatient settings and pathway teams reducing hospital admissions across the Black Country.
Continuing professional development is actively supported via annual appraisals, opportunities to attend webinars/courses, regular clinical supervision opportunities and through networking and skill sharing with therapy colleagues from across the service.
The Trust has friendly and down-to-earth 'bostin' staff teams, a comprehensive wellbeing offer for staff and an embedded set of values and behaviours. Our community Learning Disability services are a particular strength of multi-disciplinary working and support for a vulnerable client group.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
* Contributes to audit, research and developments in the clinical field and service as directed by service leads.
* Provides advice in relation to care of clients with specific communication and swallowing needs to the multi-disciplinary team.
* Provides both direct and indirect intervention, consultation, advice and support; working within a multi-disciplinary model to a complex caseload in order to ensure that the inter-agency needs of clients are met, seeking highly specialist support and second opinions from senior clinical leads for the most complex patients.
* Promotes, supports and integrates the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist’s guidance and standards into all clinical work.
* Actively participates and supports MDT intervention by regularly attending patient MDT meetings and clinical reviews.
* Liaises both orally and in writing with any significant others involved in the management of the client, within and outside the NHS, to ensure the client’s needs are met effectively and efficiently.
* Functions as a fully integrated multi-disciplinary team member supporting and facilitating communication within the therapeutic process including MDT clinical formulation and reflective practice
* Provides specific communication and/or dysphagia training alongside more senior colleagues to the MDT, the patient and their environment as part of clinical intervention.
Person specification
Qualifications
* SLT degree and HCPC registration (or pending within 2 months)
* Undergraduate, postgraduate work or placement experience in the assessment/management of communication and/or swallowing difficulties.
* Knowledge of Learning Disability and associated national drivers
* Undergraduate, postgraduate work or placement experience with adults with LD
* Evidence of Learning Disability-relevant training – e.g Talking Mats, Makaton, Intensive Interaction, PECS etc
** Please Note that Internal at Risk Employees will be given preference for this position**
We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward for this vacancy at any time should we receive an overwhelming response of applications. We therefore encourage applicants to apply early if you wish to be considered for this post.
If you do not hear from the recruitment 4 weeks within the advertised closing date please assume that you have been unsuccessful at the shortlisting stage. Please ensure that you check your emails on a regular basis for any recruitment updates regarding this vacancy. If you are not successful at the shortlisting stage and would like feedback, please contact the Recruitment Team directly for feedback.
The salary range quoted is as per NHS Agenda for Change pay structures. This is based on the number of years’ working directly within the NHS at the advertised pay band. Experience gained with other NHS Trusts will apply, but candidates without prior experience working direct for the NHS would normally be appointed at the lowest point unless they can demonstrate the equivalent experience and then be eligible for incremental increases in future years.
Successful applicants for clinical posts up to and including Band 4 are expected to hold the national Care Certificate qualification and will be supported to attain this once in post.
The Trust is committed to equal opportunities, providing opportunities for flexible working and is a non-smoking organisation.
As a Trust we are passionate about Anti-Racism, Disability Inclusion, and LGBTQ+ Equality, and are committed to diversifying our staff team in all areas and at all levels of seniority to better reflect the diverse communities we serve. Therefore, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from people who belong to a minority or marginalised community, including from Black and Asian, Disabled (including hidden disabilities such as Neurodiversity, Mental Health, etc), or Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans or Queer (LGBTQ+) people.
Furthermore, Disabled applicants have the option of requesting that their application is considered under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS). Please indicate your intention to apply under the GIS in the relevant section of your application. Regardless of whether you participate in the scheme or have shared a disability, you will be provided the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the interview process at each stage of the recruitment process.
Due to the nature of the work some posts may be subject to a Standard Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, through the Disclosure and Barring Service as stipulated under part V of the Police Act 1997. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us; this will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances of your offences.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Name Charlotte Whitehead Job title Principal SLT Email address charlotte.whitehead@nhs.net Telephone number 01384 314131 Additional information
Alternative Contact: Charlotte Whitehead, Principal SLT.
Tel: 07979286756
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