Senior Speech and Language Therapist

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Fulfil your potential in hospitals that make history:

Charing Cross, Hammersmith, St Mary's, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and Western Eye.

With five world-renowned hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is full of opportunity if you are looking to develop your healthcare career.

We are an NHS Trust of approximately 14,000 people, providing care for over a million and a half patients from north west London and beyond every year.

We have a rich heritage and an ambitious vision for the future of our patients and local communities.

With our partners, Imperial College London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, we form Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre, one of 6 academic health science centres in the UK, working to ensure the rapid translation of research for better patient care and excellence in education.

We are proud of our heritage in innovation and we are early adopters of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for improving health.

Job overview

Do you thrive working with stroke patients and within a multidisciplinary team (MDT)? We are looking for a motivated and experienced Speech & Language Therapist (SLT) who exemplifies our Trust values to join our busy and friendly MDT stroke service based at Charing Cross Hospital.

In this role you will be a senior member of the SLT and multidisciplinary team, providing dedicated evidence-based input to both the Hyperacute and Acute Stroke Units. You will also actively contribute to our instrumental assessments, teaching and training programmes, service developments, and support for junior colleagues. As a member of a large and diverse SLT department, you will benefit from the robust clinical supervision and CPD structures in place and have the opportunity to develop skills across the 4 pillars of practice. The post-holder will be supported by the Clinical Lead SLT for Stroke and Neuro-rehabilitation services.

Suitable applicants will have significant experience of working at specialist banding with adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders in an acute hospital setting, including those that have arisen from a stroke. Competence in nasendoscopic examination of swallowing and tracheostomy management are essential requirements; experience of working on a stroke unit meeting stroke-specific standards would be an advantage.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a highly specialist speech & language therapy service to adult inpatients with disorders of communication and/or swallowing arising from a stroke (CVA) within ICHNT. This will include highly specialist assessment, diagnosis, management, advice and treatment of communication and/or swallowing disorders, based on principles of evidence-based practice.
• To provide support and second opinion for colleagues and junior staff in the specialism of stroke, and to junior SLTs in other teams, and to contribute to the development of junior staff. To deputise for the Clinical Lead SLT as required.
• To be a senior member of the multidisciplinary team on the HASU and SU, acting as a point of contact for nursing, medical and AHP staff on the unit, and participating or taking the lead in stroke clinical governance and service developments as appropriate. This role will involve representing SLT within a variety of multidisciplinary stroke service forums.
• To participate in the provision of clinical education to SLT students, and in the development, delivery and evaluation of specialist training (formal and informal) to colleagues in SLT and other professions. To take a lead in this area as required.
• To utilise, or commit to developing, other highly specialist skills in the management of patients following stroke as appropriate to the role, e.g. those required to manage patients with a tracheostomy, instrumental assessments, and communication therapy skills.

Working for our organisation

At Imperial College Healthcare you can achieve extraordinary things with extraordinary people, working with leading clinicians pushing boundaries in patient care.

Become part of a vibrant team living our values - expert, kind, collaborative and aspirational. You'll get an experience like no other and will fast forward your career.

Benefits include career development, flexible working and wellbeing, staff recognition scheme. Make use of optional benefits including Cycle to Work, car lease schemes, season ticket loan or membership options for onsite leisure facilities.

We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and will consider applications to work flexibly, part time or job share. Please talk to us at interview. .

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required.

For both overviews, please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Degree (or equivalent) in Speech and Language Therapy
• State registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Evidence of CPD through maintenance of a portfolio, especially in the relevant clinical area

Desirable criteria

• Membership of the Professional Organisation
• Membership of Professional special interest groups relevant to speciality
• Relevant Postgraduate clinical qualification
• Management skills or leadership training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant recent clinical experience in relevant clinical area
• Evidence of a broad base of clinical experience at Band 6 level or equivalent
• Significant experience of working as an integral member of a multidisciplinary team and inter-agency working
• Experience of multidisciplinary goal planning, development of care pathways and using outcome measures
• Experience of organising and implementing training programmes for therapists, MDT members, support workers, students and apprentices
• Experience of service development/change management
• Experience in implementing evidence based practice in speciality

Desirable criteria

• Previous Band 7 or equivalent experience in relevant post
• Leadership of a therapy team
• Recent, relevant work in an NHS environment
• Experience of using clinical governance framework to monitor and improve quality of patient care
• Clinical research experience
• Experience of planning and managing service improvement activities

Skills/Knowledge/ Abilities

Essential criteria

• Level 2A FEES competency
• Competence in managing tracheostomised patients (non-ventilator dependent)
• Advanced knowledge of assessment and treatment approaches for the effective management of relevant conditions
• Advanced skills in the appropriate application of a range of techniques and approaches to the management of relevant conditions
• Skills in supervision, mentoring and coaching
• Advanced clinical reasoning and problem solving skills
• Advanced knowledge of relevant conditions
• Advanced knowledge of the evidence base of the relevant therapy area
• Knowledge of the influence of psychosocial and cultural factors health/illness behaviours
• Ability to remain updated with professional practice and research and integrate this into daily patient management
• Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate as appropriate and manage time effectively
• Able to make sound judgments and reliable decisions in a variety of demanding situations

Desirable criteria

• Level 2B or above FEES competency
• Competency in Videofluoroscopy
• Knowledge of recent NHS developments and their impact on service provision
• Advanced computer skills for presentation and data analysis
• Negotiation and conflict resolution skills

Please ensure you check your emails regularly as this is how we will communicate with you throughout the recruitment process. If you are shortlisted you will be contacted by email and text message (if you provide a mobile contact number).

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

• JD (PDF, 744.5KB)
• Functional requirement form (PDF, 272.6KB)
• Our Strategy 2023-25 (PDF, 230.4KB)