About this role
Job summary
We have an exciting 30 hour per week role for a friendly and confident individual to join our Paediatric Community SLT service as a Speech & Language Therapy Assistant (SaLTAs) Band 3/Band 4 depending on experience. In this role you will deliver therapy packages to preschool children in clinics and early years settings in Bury St Edmunds and surrounding locations. School settings may also be included. You will have excellent communication skills and experience of working with children including those with additional needs. You will be confident to work with therapy partners e.g. parents and carers and have a special interest in supporting communication skills.
Excellent organisational skills, being child friendly and working independently under instruction are key. Confident IT skills are needed for daily electronic record keeping, online learning, delivering our online training offer and to communicate with service users and colleagues.
Training and supervision are provided. Undertaking the NHS Care Certificate is a requirement of all assistant roles.
Based in West Suffolk, an ability to travel during the working day is essential. (Band 4 available for candidates with previous relevant SaLTA experience).
Please indicate if you are applying for a Band 3 or 4 role in your application. Interviews scheduled for 2nd July.
Main duties of the job
You will
Deliver therapy packages to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs with the guidance and support of a speech and language therapist
Be able to work independently as well as in a team
Communicate therapy outcomes / next steps to relevant therapy partners and the therapy supervisor
Communicate sensitive information to parents and carers, demonstrating an empathic approach.
Recognise the boundaries of the role and your own experience and seek support and guidance from others where required.
Organise therapy appointments.
Assist with delivering training both face to face and virtually
Offer support to the wider team as required by making resources for therapy sessions, organising toys and resources in bases, booking therapy groups and training sessions, gathering information and assisting in home visits
Use SystmOne for daily record keeping (all clinical sessions and correspondence recorded)
Use Outlook, Word, Teams to keep in touch with service users and colleagues, participate in training and to communicate within the team.
About us
#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community
We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.
The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.
Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.
We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.
With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.
We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.
Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?
Job description Job responsibilities
Please see the full job description for more information
The primary purpose of this role is to deliver speech, language and communication therapy programmes, devisedby speech and language therapists, to individual or groups of children and young people (CYP).Supporting and training others (parents/carers, educational staff and less experienced colleagues) is a key component of this SLTA role.This community-based role involves working mainly in clinics but may include visits to nurseries or homes, according to service need.The client group comprises of children with varied communication difficulties, children with Special Educational Needs including complex presentations.Therapy is typically delivered face to face but may also be via digital methods (e.g. via Microsoft Teams).
Person Specification
Education & Qualifications Essential
Level/NVQ Level 3 or equivalent Good general education including 5 GCSEs including Maths & English
Desirable
NNEB training Other qualification in related area e.g. child development studies, language, or psychology Relevant qualification or short course in speech, language or communication development. Relevant qualification or short course in relevant therapy approach e.g. PECS, Makaton.
Experience & Knowledge Essential
Experience of working with children of preschool or school age Interest & awareness of children's language development Aware of the importance of safeguarding children Knowledge of the role of a speech and language therapist Experience of working as an SLTA / equivalent knowledge / skill set e.g. have delivered SLT programmes to children or equivalent Experience in working with therapy partners e.g. parent/carers or education staff Knowledge of some aspects of SLC difficulties Knowledge and experience of Children's Safeguarding Process
Desirable
Experience of working with parent/carers Experience of CYP with special or complex needs Knowledge of some aspects and types of speech language and communication difficulties Experience of NHS record keeping such as S1 or equivalent Experience of specific therapy approaches - e.g. using Makaton, PECS, colourful semantics or Nuffield approach Experience of delivering training and/or therapy groups. Experience of supervising and supporting others.
Skills & Abilities Essential
Good spoken communication and written skills Able to write concise and accurate notes. Good interpersonal skills Ability to be flexible, creative and use initiative towards working duties To work independently as well as under instruction Computer literate *able to use MS packages (Word, Outlook) Ability to keep client confidentiality. Able to discuss, analyse and reflect on observations.
Desirable
Use of universal child assessments or scales such as WellComm Good negotiation skills Able to share sensitive and complex information with families and professionals. Able to discuss analyse and reflect on observations. Able to use MS Teams & Excel Able to use ages / stages knowledge to make informed observations about SLCN profile.
Personal Qualities Essential
Organised approch to workload Flexible approach to working duties Ability to travel to rural locations to carry out post
Desirable
Confident to work on own initiative Confident to deliver training to groups of therapy partners.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Address Child Health Centre
Hospital Road
Bury St Edmunds
IP33 3ND
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.wsh.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)