Job overview

We look forward to welcoming an experienced, driven and creative team player who thrives in a busy multi-disciplinary team environment and has the desire to establish a new Critical Care Speech Therapy Service for two of the five Critical Care Units within OUHFT: Oxford Critical Care, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and Churchill Intensive Care Unit, based at Churchill Hospital.  The successful applicant will be an integral member of the experienced and friendly Adult SLT Team. The Team works across specialisms including Stroke, Neurosciences, Head and Neck Cancer, General Inpatients, Upper Airways, and Voice/ENT workstreams. The Team also works closely with wider SLT services both within the Trust and the wider Integrated Care System.  Key activities of this new role include delivery of high quality, person-centred and effective care for critically unwell patients, developing highly specialist knowledge and technical skills, integrating into the multidisciplinary team, completing service improvement initiatives, providing learning and education activities, and supporting maintenance of clinical governance across two hospital sites.  In addition to this, supporting the shared leadership of the Adult Speech and Language Therapy team, with a particular emphasis on through teaching and training junior members of staff, and input into specialist dysphagia services e.g. Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and Videofluoroscopy (VFS) services.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be a highly experienced senior therapist within the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service for Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust. The post holder will work across both Oxford Critical Care and Churchill Critical Care Units, each based at John Radcliffe Hospital and Churchill Hospital respectively. They should aim to provide high quality, person-centred, evidence-based patient care, and demonstrate knowledge, skills and experience commensurate with Intensive Care Society Advanced SLT pillars of practice.    The post holder will work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team based within these two critical care units. The role will include providing highly specialist assessment and treatment to adults with complex acquired communication and swallowing difficulties, including tracheostomy management, support for mechanically ventilated patients, rehabilitation, videofluoroscopic swallow studies, and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). In addition, upholding principles of clinical, professional, strategic and operational governance within critical care environments.   The post holder will also have close working relationships with the wider Adult Speech and Language Therapy team, including opportunities for operational, educational, and clinical leadership.

Working for our organisation

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.

The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.