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CUSTOMER CARE FOR PATIENTS AND/OR SERVICE USERS

·         To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable as an autonomous practitioner for all aspects of your own work, including the independent management of a wide-ranging caseload.

• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management, adhering to agreed departmental standards, national protocols/policies and the HCPC Code of Conduct.

• To use specialist clinical knowledge and experience to undertake the comprehensive assessment and differential diagnosis of adults with wide-ranging speech, language and communication and/or EDS difficulties, requiring the ability to make sound, and at times, complex clinical decisions.

• To formulate, evaluate and review individual specialised speech and language therapy management and treatment plans, using clinical reasoning skills, knowledge of diagnosis and a wide range of treatment skills appropriate to the adult population, working at all times in partnership with the patient and their carers and the healthcare team.

• To use highly developed auditory, perceptual and analytical skills required for the assessment and management of adults with speech, language and communication impairments.

• To ensure that all patients are enabled to communicate to the best of their ability. This may include the introduction and successful use of alternative and augmentative systems of communication.

• To effectively manage a caseload of patients, including responding to urgent requests/referrals, prioritising clinical work, and balancing other patient related and professional activities in accordance with service standards and patient needs.

• To maintain accurate and comprehensive case notes and records which would stand up to legal scrutiny.

COMMUNICATION

• To contribute to the wider clinical management of patient care, by providing timely and accurate written and verbal communication.

• To work closely with patients, carers and families, so that they are engaged in the goal-setting and management plans regarding their care.

• To demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to patients, their families and carers, and other healthcare staff. This may include imparting unwelcome news and supporting patients with unconfirmed diagnoses.

• To refer onto other professional colleagues for more specialist assessment e.g. dietitians, consultant ENT surgeon etc.

• To enable other healthcare professionals to provide their care to the patient, particularly where the patient may have communication difficulties.

• To ensure that all those involved in a patient’s care are kept fully informed of the service provided and the progress made through the provision of regular and timely reviews.

• To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with healthcare colleagues to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service. This may include attending family meetings.

• To demonstrate empathy when dealing with potentially stressful, upsetting or emotional situations involving with grieving and distressed families.

• To demonstrate skills in motivating clients and/or carers to engage in the therapeutic process.

• To demonstrate negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations.

• To deal with informal complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible.

• To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties

• To demonstrate a high standard of written communication ability in clinical noting, report-writing and the provision of information to patient and carers.

PLANNING AND ORGANISATION

• To manage a complex caseload independently.

• To monitor and evaluate own specialist service delivery and provide progress reports

• To be accountable for own professional action and recognise own professional boundaries, seeking advice as appropriate

• To work within defined department and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct

• To work within infection control and health and safety guidelines, especially when working with patients with EDS difficulties. This will involve adhering to local Trust and national guidelines in relation to PPE

• To be able to work in a variety of environments when required, including hospital wards and nursing homes and patients’ own homes, which will involve making sound clinical judgements when the necessity for on-site risk assessment and compliance with lone working guidelines exists

• To maintain up to date and accurate case notes in line with RCSLT professional standards and local Trust policies

• To ensure adherence to Information Governance when sharing information

• To provide accurate and timely activity data and statistics as required

• To produce presentations using Microsoft Office Powerpoint

• To demonstrate a sound understanding of clinical governance and clinical risk and to demonstrate the use of evidence-based treatment plans

• To ensure patient safety at all times during swallowing assessments, through thorough history taking and assessment, prior to introducing oral intake.

• To ensure that the local and national clinical and professional standards of service are maintained at all times, reporting to the line-manager or SLT service manager with any concerns

BUDGETARY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• To monitor stock levels in own service area and request new equipment as appropriate

• To be responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained – including equipment loaned to clients

STAFF AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

·         To advise line manager on issues of service delivery including shortfall, service pressures etc., as relevant to their operational responsibilities.

·         To identify and advise healthcare professionals on staff training and development needs, to ensure that all staff are competent to support speech and language therapy treatment plans, understand the importance of communication in its widest context and are able to contribute to the safe multi-disciplinary management of patients with EDS difficulties

·         To generally support and act as mentor to less experienced SLT colleagues

·         To contribute to the identification of training needs for the Adult Speech and Language Therapy team

• To maintain own clinical professional development, by keeping abreast of new trends and developments, incorporating them into working practice where possible to ensure the continued development of professional competence/performance, and maintenance of HCPC and RCSLT registration. To be pro-active in seeking learning opportunities both internally and externally to maintain and update specialist knowledge and skills

• To participate in the Trust appraisal scheme, evaluating personal and service performance and agreeing on objectives which are in line with service and organisational goals.

TEACHING, TRAINING AND RESEARCH RESPONSIBILITIES

• To deliver core and specialist training on a range of subjects relating to acquired speech, language and communication and/or swallowing disorders to other agencies, the voluntary sector and healthcare colleagues

• To provide clinical supervision and training to speech and language therapy students on placement, supporting the Universities in determining fitness to practice

• To use specialist clinical knowledge and expertise to contribute to the development of service policy and provision, relating to the field of speech and language therapy for adults with acquired disorders

• To work with colleagues and other healthcare professionals in the development of service protocols and care pathways

TRUST VALUES

Our values help us in what we do and how we do it. It is important that you understand and use these values throughout your employment with the Trust to define and develop our culture.

The post holder will be:-

• Inclusive
• Compassionate, caring about our patients.
• Accountable and responsible, always looking to improve.
• Respectful for all and show integrity in everything.
• Encouraging and challenging each other to always do our best.