Go back North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (BCH)
Speech & Language Therapist
The closing date is 11 October 2026
Are you anenthusiastic Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) who is passionate abouthelping children and young people achieve their potential?
As part of theexciting new Experts at Hand initiative, we are looking for 4 wte Band 5Speech and Language Therapists to work across Warrington and Halton. You’ll have the opportunity to make a real difference through deliveringwhole-school training and targeted interventions, modelling effectiveapproaches and working collaboratively with education staff to createcommunication-friendly environments. A key part of the role will be buildingthe confidence and skills of school staff to support children and young peoplewith speech, language and communication needs within their everydayenvironments.
In our team,you’ll benefit from a supportive team culture. We are proud of our approachable andexperienced leadership team, who prioritise staff wellbeing, work-life balanceand professional growth. We offer agile working, high-quality clinicalsupervision and excellent development opportunities.
If you’remotivated, innovative and excited by the opportunity to help shape a newinitiative, develop your skills and influence practice at a whole-school level,we’d love to welcome you to our team.
Main duties of the job
As a Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist within theinnovative Experts at Hand service, you will play a key role in helpingschools develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to support children andyoung people with speech, language and communication needs.
You will build the knowledge, skills and confidence ofeducation staff through the delivery of engaging whole-school training, as wellas training education staff to deliver targeted and evidence-based groupinterventions.
You will provide drop-in sessions within schools, helpingstaff to identify needs early, consider appropriate next steps and navigatereferral pathways, ensuring children receive support from the most appropriate service at a universal, targeted or specialist level. Working collaborativelywith education staff, you will promote communication-friendly approaches, embedpractical strategies into everyday practice and contribute to the developmentof sustainable support within schools.
You will also support the evaluation of the service bymeasuring outcomes, monitoring impact and demonstrating how the Experts atHand model is improving confidence, practice and outcomes for children andyoung people.
About us
Flexible working will be considered for all roles.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (NCM) serves more than one million residents across the Halton and Warrington boroughs and the wider North West region.
Bringing together community and out-of-hospital services (formerly provided by Bridgewater Community Healthcare) with inpatient and elective care (formerly Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals) we provide services at two hospital sites and more than 70 community hubs and facilities.
Our mission, vision and values are at the heart of North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (NCM).
They underpin everything we do and everything we aspire to be as an organisation.
Our mission
We will be exceptional for our patients, our communities and each other
Our vision
We will be a great organisation providing excellent healthcare and opportunities to work and learn
Our values
- Kind: We are caring, supportive and respectful to everyone
- Open: We are honest, transparent and open to new ways of working
- Fair: We listen, value our differences and are inclusive to all
- One team: We work well together and with our communities
Job responsibilities
Job Purpose:
The Speech and Language Therapist within Experts at Hand provides early,preventative and responsive support that strengthens inclusion, builds staffskills within educational settings, and helps children and young peopleparticipate fully in learning and school life. The role combines directtherapeutic expertise with coaching, consultation, and workforce development toachieve sustainable outcomes across whole educational communities
This role will also involve some work within the core SLT service toprovide assessment, diagnosis and treatment of children with communicationdisorders, including those with special needs in community settings, mainstreamschools and special schools.
Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical Skills
To assess anddiagnose children with communication disorders, including those with special needs
To develop andimplement Speech and Language Therapy treatment and to evaluate outcomes
To take clinical responsibility for a variedpaediatric caseload of differing complexities and to organise this effectivelywith regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
To ensure thatclients are involved in the planning and prioritisation of their treatmentplans wherever possible.
To provide adviceand coaching to others regarding the management and care of clients withcommunication difficulties
To demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and outcome measures
To produce reports regarding clients needsand summarising proposed care plans
To contribute tolegal documents such as Education Health and care Plans, Individual EducationPlans and Annual Reviews
To adapt practiceto meet individual clients circumstances, including due regard for culturaland linguistic differences
To maintain up todate and accurate case notes in line with RCSLT professional standards andlocal trust policies
To shareinformation with clients, carers and other professionals, observing dataprotection guidelines
To contribute tomulti and uni-disciplinary teams to ensure a client focused approach totreatment
To communicatecomplex information from assessment and treatment to clients, carers and otherprofessionals
To communicateeffectively with the child or young person and their carers to maximisetreatment potential and ensure understanding of their condition. Addressing physical, psychological andemotional barriers to effective communication will be regularly required.
To work closelywith clients, carers and other professionals to negotiate and agree clientmanagement
To demonstrate empathywith clients, carers and colleagues, ensuring that effective communication isachieved, particularly where significant barriers to understanding exist
To respondsensitively at all times particularly when imparting potentially distressinginformation regarding the nature of the clinical difficulties and theirimplications
To motivateclients, carers and other professionals to engage in the therapeutic process
To use negotiation skills in the management ofconflict across a range of situations
To deal withinitial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible, in linewith North Cheshire and Mersey (NCM) Trust policy
To fosterproductive relationships with others who have challenging communicationdifficulties and may be under stress
To identifyappropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness ofcommunication, both verbal, non- verbal and environmental
To assess andadvise on optimising the clients communicative environment, taking intoconsideration the communication skills of carers and other professionals
To assess thecapacity of the child or young person to give valid, informed consent. To be able to work within a legal frameworkwith children and parents for consent to Treatment.
Please see Full Job Description attached.
Person Specification
Skills and Knowledge
- Knowledge of EYFS and Code of Practice including SEND Reforms
- Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy skills
- Negotiation and problem solving skills
- Demonstrates good analytical and reflection skills
- Good presentation skills, both written and verbal
- Good organisational skills
- Good auditory skills and ability to transcribe speech phonetically
- Demonstrates ability to be a good team Member
- Knowledge of assessment tools
- relevant to the client group
- Knowledge of national policies and procedures (relevant to the client group)
- Well established knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions (relevant to the client group)
- Understanding of the roles of other professionals (relevant to the client group)
- Knowledge of standards of record keeping
- evidence of CPD
- Understanding of the
- principles of clinical
- governance/audit
Qualifications
- Recognised Speech and Language
- Therapy Degree Qualification or
- Equivalent
- Health Care Professions Council registration.
- RCSLT Licence to Practice
- Registered member
- of Royal College of
- Speech and
- Language
- Therapists
- Membership of
- Interest Groups
Experience
- Relevant knowledge / placement /experience with a range of paediatric communication problems (Speech Disorders, language disorder, ASD, Learning Disabilities).
- Knowledge or experience of a range of assessment tools / therapeutic interventions
- Experience in coaching/
- training other
- treating range of communication problems
- Relevant knowledge of assessing / treating Fluency
- Experience of AAC
- Experience working in collaboration with parents and professionals, sharing strategies and providing advice to support children in settings
Relationships
- If you are related to a director or have a relationship with a director or employee of an appointing organisation, please state the relationship.
Job Specific Requirements
- The ability to travel independently across NCM Trust as required
- The ability to work flexibly in accordance with service needs, including occasional evenings
Right to Work
- Do you currently have the unrestricted right to work in the UK?
- If appointed, will you require sponsorship under a UK work visa route (now or in the future)?
- Please note that sponsorship is not available for all roles. Sponsorship will only be considered where the post meets the relevant UK immigration requirements and where the organisation determines that sponsorship is appropriate for the role.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (BCH)
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