Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist (Xr07)

Job summary Planned Interview Date : 11/02/2025Areyou seeking variety, team working and development of clinical skills?
Look nofurther than the exciting opportunity that has arisen to join our team at theLeeds Children's Hospital.
Weare looking to recruit a dynamic, innovative and skilled Band 7 SpecialistPaediatric Oncology Speech and Language Therapist capable of providing highquality input within Leeds Children's Hospital.
Thispost provides an excellent opportunity, within a supportive and stimulatingenvironment, to develop & enhance your skills in the assessment &management of children with complex feeding & communication difficulties inan acute setting.
The role is conducive to MDT working, supporting patients& families through their hospital journey and we are seeking team memberswho are committed to achieving the very highest standards of care for childrenand families.
Opportunitiesto develop within areas research and service development are available.
Main duties of the job This cross site post will cover sites of Leeds Children's Hospital and St James' University Hospital.
To fulfil the role of Highly Specialist Paediatric Oncology SLT, you will have experience of working at an advanced level in the assessment, instrumental evaluation, differential diagnosis, treatment and management of Eating, Drinking and Swallowing difficulties as well as complex communication needs.
This post provides excellent opportunities to develop skills as a core member of a well established MDT working alongside Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Dietetics, Nurses and Assistants You will have excellent inter-personal communication, organisational and team working skills and be able to show evidence of continued professional development.
The role requires you to coordinate Paediatric Oncology service development, carry out training, pre and post-operative assessments/treatments and transfer of care at a local and regional level.
The post also involves working closely with Oncology MDTs, patients, families and relevant Health and Social Care teams ensuring compliance against relevant clinical drivers and standards.
About us Leeds Childrens Hospital provides care across the region and is a well established teaching hospital.
The fantastic work of Leeds Teaching Hospital has recently featured on Saving Lives in Leeds and it is one of the largest acute health providers in the UK.
The hospitals offer specialities including Neurology, Neuro Rehab, Neonates, Cardio-Respiratory & Gastroenterology, respiratory and long term ventilation, critical care, surgical, oncology and haematology.
The Hospital is based within one of the fastest growing cities in the North, in the thriving city centre of Leeds which has excellent transport links.
The post holder will join a highly supportive and innovative Adult and Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Service.
The department offers comprehensive supervision in conjunction with a well established Continuing Professional Development program and access to regular staff meetings.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles.
As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed.
If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.
Job description Job responsibilities JOB PURPOSE To assess differentially diagnose and manage complex communication and swallowing breakdown relating to a wide range of conditions.
Utilise highly specialist knowledge in line with local policies/protocols and professional guidelines.
Provide specialist second opinions on request to other health and social care professionals.
Build links with allied agencies across primary and secondary care improving local and regional care pathways across in/outpatient settings.
Diagnose, assess, treat and manage complex communication, swallowing, cognitive and emotional impairments.
Ensure all patients have opportunities to improve their swallowing/communication function and decrease reliance on enteral feeds and communication aids.
Develop a rehabilitation care pathway focussing on education, enablement and empowerment of service users and their carers.
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JOB DIMENSIONS The post holder will: Manage Highly Specialist caseloads ensuring their complex communication and swallowing needs are met safely.
Provide seamless pathway of care with locality services ensuring equitable citywide provision.
Manage local and regional complex caseloads.
Plan, coordinate and deliver medical education and training programs for health/social staff, patients, care providers, regional SLTs and students.
Act as patient advocate facilitating communication in order to secure compliance with Mental Capacity Act.
Audit caseloads and provision to measure value of input across this care pathway and evaluate alternative models of provision.
Optimise service provision by balancing provision between specialist Acute and Outpatient clinics.
Person Specification Additional Requirements Essential Must be willing to participate in any relevant training identified to develop skills required to carry out duties.
Skills & behaviours Essential Demonstrates excellent interpersonal skills.
Active and empathetic listening/ counselling skills Sensitive to the needs of others and has an awareness and responsiveness to other peoples feelings and needs Values differences; regards people as individuals and appreciates value of diversity in the workplace Able to work as part of a team, co-operating to work together and in conjunction with others and willing to help and assist wherever possible and appropriate.
Able to develop, establish and maintain positive relationships with others both internal and external to the organisation Able to work under pressure, dealing with peaks and troughs in workload.
Positive attitude to dealing with change; flexible and adaptable, willing to change and accept change and to explore new ways of doing things and approaches Highly motivated and reliable Has a strong degree of personal integrity; able to adhere to standards of conduct based on a sense of right and wrong and be dependable and reliable Ability to formulate independent clinical decisions following assessment.
Able to negotiate with client / carer and medical / AHP teams around individual case management Able to communicate complex, sensitive condition-related information from assessment to patients and carers Ability to give clear advice, instruction and training to patients, carers and other professionals relating to complex communication/ swallowing disorders Good time management, organisational and prioritisation skills.
Well developed analytical, reflective, negotiation and problem solving skills.
Desirable Good organisational skills Good knowledge of Microsoft Office Experience Essential In-depth knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions and evidence of highly specialist clinical expertise relevant to the specialism.
Well established knowledge of RCSLT Professional and Clinical Guidelines/ policies both locally and nationally in the specialism as well as relevant national strategy and drivers.
Experience in conducting a range of assessments (VF preferred) to support diagnosis and management of patients presenting with complex dysphagia.
Substantial SLT experience post qualification with significant experience working in the specialism of complex paediatric communication and feeding difficulties.
Experience working at advanced level in the assessment, differential diagnosis and management of the specialism.
Experience in teaching competencies to less experienced Speech and Language Therapists.
Experience in the provision of second opinions and advice to internal and external professional colleagues.
Experience in delivering Communication and Swallowing training to SLT colleagues and other members of the MDT Experience of conducting clinical audit.
Desirable Has attended Clinical Supervisory Skills Course, or equivalent Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance, including audit cycle, continuous quality improvement and user involvement.
Experience in research/audit Line Management experience Experience in conducting appraisals Experience of working in Specialist MDTs and acting as a specialist SLT resource.
VF Competency Tracheostomy Competency Experience of working with AAC Qualifications Essential Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree accredited by RCSLT Health Professions Council license to practice as a Speech and Language Therapist.
Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Post Graduate training in and maintenance of: RCSLT Level C Dysphagia Training & Competency Framework Post Graduate Qualification in Paediatric Dysphagia Desirable EKSF/Appraisal Training Post Graduate Training in: Neonatal Feeding difficulties, VFSS, Tracheostomy, Advanced communication skills and FEES Competencies