Children's Speech and Language Therapist

at  Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Main Duties and Responsibilities Communications To overcome barriers to communication in working with children and their families/carers: some clients will have significant difficulties with speech, language or communication. Some may also have: English as an additional language, hearing impairments, learning difficulties, autism or psychological or emotional difficulties To communicate to clients and their families/carers complex information about speech, language and communication to ensure they understand and consent to assessment procedures and can participate fully in decision making regarding management To negotiate with clients, families and other professionals around setting up appointments and meetings, ensuring flexibility To communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to clients and their families/carers; this may include giving unwelcome or difficult to accept information e.g. around the seriousness, implications or long-term nature of the difficulty To provide written reports, presenting complex information in a clear and accessible way; reports may be provided to teachers, Local Education Officers, psychologists, GPs, medical consultants and other allied health professionals To assist other SLTs in the delivery of training for staff within the team and for other audiences; this may include ward staff, teachers and voluntary groups To provide advice and support to SLT assistants and volunteer Responsibility for Patient Care To manage a personal caseload of SLT clients. To assess and diagnose all cases referred; to seek out a second opinion or to refer on as necessary To deliver a range of basic SLT care plans, evaluating the outcomes of these and amending as appropriate.
To work in conjunction with senior or specialist SLTs to identify and deliver care plans for more complex cases To work closely and often for extended periods with clients referred for SLT and with their families/carers; these clients will have specific difficulties with speech, language and communication. Some clients will also have hearing impairment, learning difficulties, psychological or emotional difficulties; clients may not have English as their first language and interpreter services will be required To contribute to clinical teams both multi-disciplinary and uni-disciplinary by discussion of own and others input around clients needs and management To direct clients/carers to appropriate voluntary agencies and external services for support and information, e.g. Paren To assist patients/service users/carers/relatives during incidental contacts Planning and organising To organise own workload effectively, prioritising tasks and planning ahead by setting both long- and short-term goals To organise and plan own day to day workload or activities in order to meet the demands of the job role Responsibilities for Physical and / or Financial Resources To monitor and maintain equipment and stock kept for own use; this will include test materials and disposables (recording and analysis sheets), therapy materials, audio and video recording equipment To ensure any equipment or material that is loaned to clients or families is safe, well maintained and appropriately used To ensure safe and efficient use of equipment, resources and consumables at all times Responsibility for Policy and Service Development and Implementation To be familiar with and adhere to Trust and departmental policies and procedures, including requirements for mandatory training To be familiar with and adhere to national and local clinical guidelines To ensure attendance at all mandatory training and to attend regular staff meetings with at least 75% attendance To be aware of, comment on and/or actively participate in changes on policies, procedures or service developments To embrace and support line management and the department in making service improvements effective within the workplace. Responsibilities for Human Resources and Leadership To be aware of and observe all HR policies and know where to access these To support new or less experienced work colleagues to adapt to the workplace Responsibilities for Teaching and Training Participate in clinical placements and supervision of SLT students and others e.g.
student nurses To participate in the training and induction of SLTs, assistants and volunteers To participate in training and development activities that are relevant to the job role Responsibilities for data and information resources To maintain comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date case notes for own clients, adhering to professional and PCT standards To undertake data collection as required by the PCT and submit timely and accurate data as required; this will include information about patient contacts, caseload figures and activity levels Research, Development and Audit To contribute to and participate in surveys or audits as required by the SLT co-ordinator or manager To participate in and submit data for research being carried out by others, e.g. university research projects; this is unlikely to be a regular or frequent requirement of the post. Physical Skills and Effort The post-holder will work in a range of settings, including the community and will have to transport therapy and assessment materials, case notes etc. Limited space will be available in some environments, and for work with children, the therapist may be sitting on the floor or using child-size furniture.
For some clients, the therapist will need to manoeuvre and position wheelchairs The post-holder is required to concentrate for extended periods of time e.g. whilst assessing clients, carrying out treatment or making observations in naturalistic settings Intense concentration is required in working with clients with speech, language and communication difficulties, and the SLT will be monitoring aspects of the clients communication, adapting and facilitating according to the perceived needs of the client, including cultural and linguistic differences The SLT is required to work in non-optimal settings (e.g. in local schools and clients homes) where lack of sound proofing, frequent distractions, lack of suitable space make concentration more difficult The SLT will work with clients who are experiencing health and social difficulties, and offer support to families and carers in distressing or difficult circumstances such as when giving unwelcome news about a diagnosis, explaining the limits of SLT intervention or discussing the long-term implications of a childs difficulties Some clients will have emotional and behavioural difficulties, including autism and challenging behaviour; children with severe communication difficulties may be passive and withdrawn or aggressive and overactive Working with children, particularly children in need, the SLT may be directly involved in child protection issues, and some clients have serious and complex medical problems

Please refer the Job description for details