About this role
Job summary
Would you like to be part of a well established multi disciplinary health and social care team? Would you like to support and improve the lives of adults with learning disabilities within the London Borough of Islington? Islington Learning Disabilities Speech and Language Therapy team are looking for a band 5 speech and language therapist with an exciting opportunity to progress to band 6 within the post. The post holder will deliver communication and dysphagia intervention programmes, with supervision and support to develop skills in managing a caseload of adults with learning disabilities with complex communication and dysphagia needs. There will be opportunities to deliver dysphagia and communication training for paid and family carers, local community day and residential/supported living services. You will be part of a well established speech and language therapy team that includes a part time SLTA and will also contribute to a variety of multidisciplinary pathways. You will be offered regular supervision, including cross borough peer supervision opportunities and networking opportunities across the wider Whittington SLT teams. There will be opportunities for flexible or part time working.
For further details/informal discussion about this post please contact Radhika Lingham, clinical lead speech and language therapist on 07516 900 138 Mon - Fri 9-5pm or you can email at [email protected]
Main duties of the job
Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. If you are unable to access the PDFs, the details of the job description can also be found in the 'Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities' section.
About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Job description Job responsibilities
The post holder is a member of an integrated multi-agency learning disabilities service (Health and Social Services). The team provides a specialist service to young people and adults with learning disabilities in a range of community environments across Islington. Islington is a culturally diverse borough with many multi-ethnic, bilingual and multi-lingual speaking communities. These may provide potential barriers to communication which could affect delivery of client care. Speech and language therapists will need to have an awareness of, and sensitivity to, social, cultural and economic issues.
The post holder will deliver Speech and Language Therapy care in a range of environments including clients homes, day opportunity settings and community settings in Islington. They will work with a range of other professionals, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, nurses, psychiatrists, social workers and a range of other carers and community personnel. They will encounter a wide range of physically and emotionally challenging conditions in clients homes and other environments in the community.
Main duties:
Clinical
1. To be able to provide basic clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of language and communication problems in Adults with Learning Disabilities, providing appropriate intervention and evaluating outcomes
2. To be able to provide basic clinical expertise in the area of dysphagia for Adults with Learning Disabilities, drawing on support of senior colleagues as required
3. To demonstrate clinical effectiveness drawing on evidence based practice and outcome measures
4. To make appropriate basic differential diagnoses and clinical decisions based on evidence from assessment, seeking support and advice from a supervisor as appropriate
5. To develop knowledge and skill in autism, AAC, audiology, mental health, accessible information and positive behaviour support with training, support and advice from a supervisor as appropriate.
6. To develop clear care plans based on best practice
7. To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of patients/clients with communication and dysphagia difficulties
8. To communicate complex condition related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions, demonstrating empathy and ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist
9. To work closely with clients, carers and families, in order to agree plan of management
10. To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible
11. To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties
12. To employ excellent communication skills
13. To develop skills in motivating clients and /or carers to engage in the therapeutic process
14. To maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of Adults with Learning Disabilities and their carers in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the communication and dysphagia difficulties and implications of the same
15. To develop the ability to manage adults with challenging behaviours employing appropriate management strategies
16. To monitor and review the progress of clients against the targets set and agreed, seeking support from clinical supervisor as appropriate
17. To adapt practice to meet individual patient/client circumstances
18. To demonstrate the ability to reflect on clinical practice with peers / clinical supervisor based on research and evidence based practice.
19. To develop the ability to reflect on the sensory aspects of clients communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness
20. To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a specialist speech and language therapy service, seeking advice and support as appropriate.
21. To maintain up to date and accurate case notes and write reports reflecting specialist knowledge, and ensuring that they meet departmental standards and are in line with local trust and social services policy, and RCSLT professional standards
22. To manage and prioritise a defined caseload and workload independently
23. To contribute to multi-agency assessments, as required, seeking support and supervision as required
24. To contribute to the teamwide pathways and approaches for clients with complex mental health needs and/or challenging behaviours, seeking support and supervision as required
25. To demonstrate negotiation skills
26. To negotiate with clients, carers and others around individual case management
27. To develop negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations recognising potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs and seeking advice and support to resolve
28. To ensure that clients are referred to other services as appropriate, in consultation with manager or supervisor
29. To develop a working knowledge of the principles of Clinical Governance and their application to professional practice. This will include compliance with / adherence to, and implementation of service and team area plans, national and local guidelines and RCSLT professional and clinical guidelines
30. To develop an awareness of current policies and practice in social services
31. To develop a working knowledge of relevant procedures including: Safeguarding and other legal frameworks.
32. To contribute to the local Trusts systems of clinical governance, participating in and developing innovations in areas of risk management, quality standards setting and clinical effectiveness in collaboration with others
33. To be accountable for own professional action recognising professional boundaries and working within defined departmental and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct, seeking advice as appropriate
34. To work independently accessing appraisal within an Individual Performance Framework at pre-determined intervals
Person Specification
Education, qualifications, training Essential
BSc. in Speech and Language Therapy or equivalent (including Dip. CST) Health and Care Professions Council Registration to Practice Registered Member of RCSLT
Desirable
Training relevant to client group e.g. Makaton, positive behaviour support, Intensive Interaction, dysphagia
Skills/abilities Essential
Good written communication Communicate complex, sensitive information Good organisational skills Awareness of adapting communication styles with different people
Experience Essential
Working with adults with learning disabilities within clinical education or prior to training Working as part of a team in a relevant setting
Knowledge Essential
Understanding of multi-disciplinary team approaches Knowledge of a range of assessment tools and procedures to evaluate communication and speech & language relevant to field of young people/adults with learning disabilities Knowledge of the key characteristics leading to a basic differential diagnosis relevant to the client group of people who have a learning disability Knowledge of selecting, setting & evaluating goals for intervention Knowledge of local cultural, linguistic & demographic factors affecting client management
Desirable
Basic approaches to support clients with dysphagia Knowledge of accessible information
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).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
Address Finsbury Health Centre
17 Pine Street
London
EC1R 0LP
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)