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Job summary

Main area
Mental Health
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Part time
  • Flexible working
  • Compressed hours
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
354-LD-20269-A
Employer
Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Pan Sussex
Town
Brighton
Salary
£46,148 - £52,809 pa / pro rata for part time
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
31/12/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust logo

Senior Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 7

Welcome from our Chief Executive

Our organisation is expanding and we're looking for people with the right values, skills and/or potential to join us. We need people with energy, expertise, enthusiasm to help us provide the very best possible specialist NHS mental health and learning disability care. This involves helping us achieve our strategy to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve through People, Prevention and Partnerships.

So what can we offer you in return?

We're an organisation which puts people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. We'll help you learn, acquire new skills and gain further experience to support your career development. And we'll provide the opportunity for you to bring your fresh ideas to work about how we can do things differently and continue improving.

You will also be joining a health and care system committed to working together to do the best we can for the communities we serve. Above all, at Sussex Partnership you'll have the chance to make a difference to the lives of the patients, carers and families across our communities.

As a Trust we are committed in making a difference. Your development is important to us, so don't forget to ask us during interview what opportunities we can offer. We can offer fully funded lifelong learning opportunities such as an apprenticeship from GCSE to Masters level.

If you like the sound of that, then come and join our team.

Job overview

We are seeking a SLT who is passionate about improving the lives of neurodivergent young people & adults to join our innovative Sussex-wide team. This specialist SLT post is  based in the Transforming Care autism team (TCAT)  part of the MDT working with autistic adults  to provide specialist assessment & consultation with people who are mental health inpatients or at  risk of admission. You will be working with autistic people to assess and formulate with the MDT how the person's communication needs contribute to an understanding of the presenting risk. We are looking for someone who enjoys being part of a team and working in partnership with clients, carers, multi-disciplinary team members and other agencies in the network. We pride ourselves in neuroaffirmative practice as a service and actively welcome applications from neurodivergent SLTs, people with other protected characteristics and people with lived experience. You will be join a team of 40+ SLTs working across child and adult learning disability, forensic, gender, mental health and dementia services with a well-established SLT and AHP leadership structure, you would have regular supervision and CPD opportunities. Accessibility: Many of our team are proudly neurodivergent and we will ensure our services are flexible to meet your needs if you are neurodivergent. For more information  contact:Viki Baker, Trust Lead for Speech and Language Therapy & Associate Clinical Director  [email protected] 

 

Main duties of the job

This is a specialist SLT post primarily based in the Transforming Care autism team (TCAT) and working into the Neurodevelopmental service diagnostic service as required by the principal SLT for the neurodevelopmental service. The post holder will play a core role in the MDT team consisting of OTs, clinical psychologists, therapy assistants and peer support workers who work with autistic adults and young people from 14 years old who do not have a learning disability. The team criteria is to provide specialist assessment and consultation regarding people who are on the Dynamic support register, and who are therefore inpatients or at imminent risk of requiring inpatient admission.The SLT will assess, formulate and make recommendations regarding how a shared understanding of the person's communication needs will contribute to understanding and reducing the presenting risk. 

Working for our organisation

 The SLT will offer advice and support to enable the person and their support system to live well with their neurodivergence and reduce risk of future hospital admission. If the person has dysphagia the role will be to identify this and signpost to the appropriate SLT team.The SLT will be working very closely with inpatient and community mental health services, including the SLT inpatient team and the Specialist Assessment Multidisciplinary team (SAM)SLTs.The post holder working in partnership with clients’, carers, team members and other agencies to inform assessments of individual needs, make recommendations for placement, intervention, and support needs. They will also work to develop the skills of local community services to deliver recommended care plans.The NDS diagnostic team is a specialist diagnostic assessment service for adults with suspected autism or ADHD. Clinicians carry out a comprehensive assessment, write a diagnostic report and will signpost to appropriate services. Patients with higher levels of complexity have an MDT assessment with a combination of the following professionals: Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologist, Specialist Autism Practitioner and the Speech and Language Therapist (SALT). This postholder will contribute to the diagnosis for some individuals referred as requested by the Principal SLT

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

 

·       To provide a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapy service to autistic people who are on the Transforming Care Risk Register as part of TCAT in order to support discharge or avoid admission.

·       To provide specialist assessment and contribute to differential diagnosis in the NDS as required by the Principal SLT NDS

·       To provide highly specialist supervision to other Speech and Language Therapists or Speech and Language Therapy Assistants within Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, as necessary.

·       Work in collaboration with multidisciplinary colleagues and other agencies.

·       Liaise and consult with other Speech and Language Therapists and/or other professions within mainstream primary and secondary provider services.

·       To work within the MDT to undertake risk assessment, formulation, and management for individual clients with complex presentations and to provide advice to other professions on aspects of risk assessment, formulation, and management in relation to communication need

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • HCPC registered Speech and Language Therapist

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyDisability confident leaderDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - BronzeCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardStep into healthPride In Veterans

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
viki baker
Job title
Associate Clinical Director - Specialist Services
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0778 555 4777
Additional information

Dawn Howard, Clinical Lead, NDS

[email protected]

07392 195403

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