Job summary
- Main area
- Children & Young People
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 277-7107077-CYP
- Employer
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Erith Hospital
- Town
- Erith
- Salary
- £51,883 - £58,544 pro rata pa inc
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/04/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Highly Specialist SLT - AAC & Complex Communication
Band 7
Job overview
At Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, we offer a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people living in South-East London and to people in prison across England. Our wide array of services includes community health care, such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Oxleas is a great place to work. It has been recognised as one of the Top 10 Best Places to Work 2023 by the Sunday Times amongst very big employers. Our staff survey results show that we are in the Top 5 in England and the highest in London for staff experience amongst similar trusts.
“We are always delighted to welcome new colleagues to the Oxleas family. We care about making Oxleas a great place to work - it’s a big priority in our strategy. Come and join us - it’s a place where our values, teamwork, equity, and wellbeing matter and where you can really help to improve people’s lives.”
Ify Okocha
Chief Executive
We have distinctive values at Oxleas - We're Kind, We're Fair, We Listen, We Care. The post holder will be responsible for supervising the team of therapists and assistants providing communication support within the Autism service. They will lead on developments in Autism provision across the service including policies and procedures relating to clinical care, evidence-based practice, care pathways and outcome development.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support the development and delivery of a comprehensive and specialist service to children and young people presenting with Complex communication needs including those who require AAC intervention. The post holder will also take on some operational duties to support/ deputize in the absence of Team Leads in the day to day running of the Autism team.
They will be part of the multidisciplinary team (London Borough of Bexley SEND team) contributing to the co-ordination and delivery of SEND services across Bexley.
They will assess the need for, develop and implement evidence-based speech and language therapy interventions to children with a wide range of speech, language and communication difficulties, including their areas of specialisms.
They will provide highly specialist second opinions to other speech and language therapists /external professionals and support in the training and development of colleagues within the team.
They will be responsible for developing existing care pathways for areas of clinical specialisms, developing a wider network to provide holistic support to all the child’s network, particularly parents.
They will understand and meet professional and legal SEND responsibilities outlined in the Children and Families Act 2014 including contributing to statutory assessments of special educational needs and delivery of Speech and Language Therapy provision as specified in children’s Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To demonstrate highly specialist knowledge in clinical specialism – AAC/Complex Communication Needs, underpinned by current evidence-based practice.
To manage complex and highly specialist caseload independently and plan the workload of others where required.
To make highly specialist clinical decisions in assessment of complex cases including those requiring AAC intervention.
To work as part of the MDT (London Borough of Bexley SEND Team) e.g. regular attendance at SEND EHCP Panel, SEND Tribunal meetings.
To coordinate service delivery with education and/or social care colleagues within integrated teams.
To demonstrate excellent organisational skills.
To provide a high-quality specialist speech and language therapy service to children and young people in schools and alternative settings.
To advise the wider SLT and related teams on all aspects pertaining to AAC and Complex communication needs. To provide advice to non-specialists and other specialists/professionals within the clinical field.
To manage a specialist caseload independently and improve the quality of transitions for young people across settings.
To lead on service development projects and initiatives.
To attend relevant training and development in order to maintain and develop skills and knowledge required of a highly specialist therapist and maintain up to date HCPC and RCSLT registration.
To demonstrate knowledge of, and adhere to RCSLT Professional, National and Local Clinical Guidelines with particular reference to SLCN and AAC.
To keep up to date with new techniques and developments for the promotion and maintenance of good practice in the area of AAC.
To provide second opinions/advice to non-specialists and other specialists within clinical field.
To demonstrate a sound working knowledge of the principles of Clinical Governance and their application to professional practice.
To undertake team members’ Supervision and Personal Development Reviews.
To work within infection control and health and safety guidelines in order to deal appropriately with conditions related to client contact as they arise: for example, exposure to body fluids, infectious conditions.
To deputise for service leads as required.
To work with school staff and other professionals to jointly implement and develop good communication practice for learning and social development of children and young people.
Clinical
To have demonstrable skills in using a range of AAC systems including unaided, paper-based and power-based.
To provide highly specialist communication assessment within the area of complex communication needs and AAC.
To develop and implement highly specialist programmes of care and treatment to meet the needs of children and young people.
To write reports reflecting highly specialist knowledge. To provide appropriate highly specialist intervention and evaluate outcomes.
To provide highly specialist advice / second opinions to others regarding the management and care of children and young people presenting with complex communication needs and those requiring support with AAC.
To ensure that children, young people, parents/carers, teachers, and caseworkers are involved in the planning and prioritisation of their care plans wherever possible.
See JD for more details
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria
- Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Ados Trained
Registrations
Essential criteria
- HCPC Registration
- RCSLT Registration
Experience -Leadership
Essential criteria
- Experience carrying out supervision and PDRs
- Evidence of leadership skills and people management
Training
Essential criteria
- Evidence of specialist courses attended in relation to AAC/Complex Communication
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of AAC systems and strategies for supporting complex communication
Experience
Essential criteria
- Post graduate experience minimum of 5 years within Speech and Language
- Experience of multi-disciplinary and inter agency working
- In-depth experience within specialist area including working with AAC tertiary centres
Desirable criteria
- Experience of writing policies
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dennis Mlambo
- Job title
- Head-Bexley Children's Speech and Language Therapy
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07949414508
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