Specialist Speech & Language Therapist –Autism Assessment Service Lead

at  Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

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 Bexley Autism Assessment Service (AAS) provides specialist assessment and diagnostic services to children and young people presenting with ASD, registered with a Bexley GP and aged 2-18 years. The post holder will work as a member of the team contributing to assessment and diagnosis of children and young people presenting with ASD. Refer to job description for full details.
Key Task and Responsibilities
To undertake specialist diagnostic assessments for ASD for C&YP 2-18 years.
To attend and actively participate in AAS MDT triage meetings for C&YP 2-18 years.
To support the AAS Admin Coordinator in scheduling clinical appointments.
To complete relevant assessment that may be needed to inform the ASD assessment process e.g. observation of young person in school or EY setting.
To engage with clients and their parents/carers and support them through the assessment process and beyond.
To offer supervision and support within the Bexley SLT ASD team and wider service.
To attend SLT full service and SLT ASD team meetings.
To contribute to SLT service and profession wide initiatives.
To be able to act as an autonomous practitioner with an understanding of own limitations and recognition of when to seek support as required.
Management responsibilities
To offer supervision and support within the SLT ASD team, wider service and to ADOS-trained colleagues.
To participate in the development and implementation of policies and procedures within ASD team and to ensure that other professionals are aware of these.
Leadership
To prioritise workload to ensure effective time management strategies are embedded within the team, aware of competing pressures to ensure best practice.
To work alongside colleagues to review service provision and discuss improvements.
To monitor service needs and be flexible to meet new/changed demands.
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
Clinical
To demonstrate the ability to work as an autonomous specialist practitioner in relation to the ASD clinic which will include interviewing parents, undertaking play-based assessments, completing school/nursery observations visits, recording observations, writing reports and making decisions about diagnosis.
The ability to report, analyse and discuss information gained from the ASD assessment with other professionals in the multi disciplinary team and refer to appropriate services as required.
To contribute to the triaging of ASD referrals.
To demonstrate the ability to undertake specialist assessments of young people presenting with neurodevelopmental difficulties in accordance with Trust and national standards, policies and guidelines and appropriate professional codes of conduct.
To recognise responsibility and act according to Trust and national guidelines in safeguarding children and adults.
To respond to the needs of clients and their carers in an honest, non-judgemental and open manner, which respects the rights of individuals and groups.
To participate in individual and group supervision with colleagues.
To ensure that documentation is up to date, clear, concise, comprehensive and complies with Trust and national record keeping standards.
To take responsibility to record own supervision in case notes or in supervision records in order to be able to reflect on the supervision process.
To be able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Research
To be able to research, innovate, educate and demonstrate sound practice.
To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
To undertake QI projects, audit and research as required.
Financial and Physical Resources
To ensure ADOS kits are well stocked and in good condition.
To monitor and order ADOS kits and resources as needed.
To ensure equipment is appropriately cleaned after use (individual responsibility).
Communication
To demonstrate the ability to listen and engage with children and young people with social and communication differences.
To demonstrate a high degree of competence in communicating complex and sensitive information both verbally and in writing.
The ability to speak in public and address formal and informal meetings with colleagues both internally and externally to the Trust as required.
To demonstrate the ability to write analytical reports and present these to outside agencies.
To demonstrate the ability to communicate therapeutically with families from a range of backgrounds.
To effectively communicate acquired and existing knowledge in order to facilitate the client and carers’ understanding of complex issues in relation to their presenting current situation and future support.
To participate in the PDR process according to Trust guidelines.
To be able to communicate very sensitive, complex condition related information to children and their family providing reassurance.
To ensure effective data collection processes and reporting systems are in place, and monitors the data collected.
To communicate information regarding research findings and necessary changes in practice effectively at all levels within the organisation and its partners

Please refer the Job description for details