Clinical Lead - Stroke Inpatient Therapies

at  Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

Thank you for your interest in this post. This is an exciting role that has arisen due to internal promotion and is an opportunity to lead speech and language therapy for our inpatient stroke pathway.
We are looking for an experienced, highly motivated speech and language therapist to work collaboratively with the stroke MDT, whilst maintaining close links with the speech and language therapy team.
This is an exciting time within stroke services, where we have secured additional workforce for speech and language therapy so are seeking the right person to lead and develop this team. The Stroke wards are based at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax. We currently provide a 5 day service.
The speech therapy service provides video fluoroscopy in a weekly clinic, as well as an emerging FEES (fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation) service. Training in these areas will be provided to the right candidate.

You will be offered opportunities to further develop your own leadership, management, and clinical skills. This will be supported by our professional lead SALT, our AHP clinical educators as well as your fellow clinical leads within speech and language therapy. We are passionate about supporting AHP roles and have exciting new developments that you can access, such as the AHP research specialist interest group.

• To manage the stroke caseload and appropriately delegate work to others within the MDT to deliver the service required.
• To perform specialist assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex conditions.
• To implement, evaluate and modify individualised care and interventions.
• To be involved in best interest and mental capacity assessments as required.
• To lead development and implement evidence-based protocols and standards of care.
• To provide support and supervision to others including student(s) on clinical placement.
• To be involved in MDT events, including workforce development and training, meetings and conferences

We employ more than 6,500 staff who deliver compassionate care from our two main hospitals, Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary as well as in community sites, health centres and in patients’ homes. We also are incredibly proud to have almost 150 volunteers here at CHFT.
We provide a range of services including urgent and emergency care; medical; surgical; maternity; gynaecology; critical care; children’s and young people’s services; end of life care and outpatient and diagnostic imaging services.
We provide community health services, including sexual health services in Calderdale from Calderdale Royal and local health centres. These include Todmorden Health Centre and Broad Street Plaza.
We continue to modernise and invest in our health services to build on our strong reputation. Foundation trusts are public leaders in improving quality in health services. They are part of the NHS – yet decisions about what they do and how they do it are driven by independent boards. Boards listen to their Council of Governors and respond to the needs of their members – patients, staff and the local community.

Foundation trusts provide what the health service wants, yet are also free to invest quickly in the changes to the local community needs, in striving to be the best, and in putting their patients first.

• Work within the Stroke therapy service leading, co-ordinating and developing effective clinical interventions within the speciality of stroke care to advance clinical practice in the team in line with current evidence base.
• Manage autonomously a clinical workload of patients / clients at a highly specialist level, assessing and treating patients and maintaining clinical records.
• Have highly specialist assessment and treatment skills within the specialist area.
• Apply evidence-based knowledge within the clinical area.
• Act as a resource and provide advice for Speech & Language Therapists, other professionals and colleagues within the MDT about the assessment, treatment, management and care of patients.
• Work collaboratively with health and social care, community, and acute colleagues. Maintain good working relationships with our community Stroke ESD partners.
• Take a lead, and work with other members of the MDT to ensure effective care pathways and transfer of care / discharges.
• Proactively and appropriately facilitate a seamless transfer of care and continuing therapeutic management of stroke patients between care settings.
• Work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary manner within the MDT, being able to debate the blurring of boundaries across professions and where competent take on aspects of blurred boundary working.
• Develop highly specialist programmes of assessment, treatment and intervention for stroke patients with communication and/or swallowing deficits.
• Manage and prioritise own clinical workload as appropriate, working efficiently to manage professional time and delegate according to the training and competency levels of other team members to ensure the effective delivery of the service.
• Participate in the supervision process with staff on a daily basis and for students as required.
• Ensure a high standard of patient care is provided including implementing and reviewing clinical standards relevant to the work undertaken.

• To manage the stroke caseload and appropriately delegate work to others within the MDT to deliver the service required.
• To perform specialist assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex conditions.
• To implement, evaluate and modify individualised care and interventions.
• To be involved in best interest and mental capacity assessments as required.
• To lead development and implement evidence-based protocols and standards of care.
• To provide support and supervision to others including student(s) on clinical placement.
• To be involved in MDT events, including workforce development and training, meetings and conference