Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 7
Main area Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week Job ref 220-WHT-8301811
Employer Whittington Health NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site The Bridge Schools (Inclusion Bases) Town Islington, London Salary £58,133 – £65,261 Per Annum Including HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 14/10/2026 23:59
Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3 rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.
By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
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An exciting opportunity has arisen to make a positive impact within The Inclusion Bases within the London Borough of Islington. This newly created post will support a caseload of Primary Aged Children with complex learning needs, the majority of whom have a diagnosis of Autism.
The post holder is an autonomous practitioner and is responsible for organising and managing a defined caseload of children and young people (CYP). They are responsible for delivering a comprehensive and highly specialist service to CYP who have special and complex needs that may include autism, down’s syndrome, complex learning difficulties and social and emotional behaviour difficulties. Some of these CYP will require support around developing access to AAC systems.
Intervention includes assessment, differential diagnosis and therapy for individual children or groups of children and working with the MDT to provide support to parents and professionals. The post holder will devise and provide individualised care plans that are evaluated via outcome measures. They will employ specialist communication strategies used with the client group as appropriate.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will take a lead on a clinical speciality within the team. They will provide clinical supervision and support to less experienced colleagues both within the team and the wider service; this will include the provision of second opinions and advice / support around AAC.
They will represent the Speech and Language Therapy Service at multi-disciplinary / multi-agency meetings as necessary.
The post holder will have excellent communication skills and the ability to empathise in order to support and counsel parents to accept the implications of their child’s special needs. They will be able to communicate complex information effectively taking into account the barriers to communication presented by the diverse caseload. They will be skilled in working in and liaising within a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment. The clinician’s level of high level of expertise in the field will ensure that they can reassure and instil confidence in clients, carers and other professionals. They will demonstrate good negotiation skills in working with other team members, parents/carers or other professionals. They will contribute to policy development and the development of clinical protocols.
The post holder will be involved in developing and delivering training for school staff and parents. They will provide clinical education for more junior staff in within IANDS.
Working for our organisation
We have an excellent reputation for being innovative, responsive and flexible to the changing clinical needs of the local population. We are treating more patients than ever before and are dedicated to improving services to deliver the best for our patients.Our missionHelping local people live longer, healthier lives.Our visionProvide safe, personal, co-ordinated care for the community we serve.Our goalsWe have developed six key strategic goals to make sure we continue to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
- To secure the best possible health and wellbeing for all our community
- To integrate and coordinate care in person-centred teams
- To support our patients and users in being active partners in their care
- To be recognised as a leader in the fields of medical and multi-professional education, and population-based clinical research
- To innovate and continuously improve the quality of our services to deliver the best outcomes for our local population
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
CLINICAL
1.To demonstrate highly specialist clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of, language and communication problems in children and young people providing appropriate specialist intervention and evaluating outcomes.
2.Where the post holder is dysphagia qualified: to demonstrate highly specialist clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of children with eating, drinking & swallowing disorders, within the remit of own clinical competencies.
3.To demonstrate highly specialist knowledge in these clinical areas underpinned by current evidence-based practice and outcome measures.
4.To take a clinical lead in this specialised area for the paediatric special and complex needs service area.
5.To demonstrate highly developed auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment diagnosis and treatment of patients/clients.
6.To make appropriate diagnoses and highly specialist clinical decisions on evidence from assessment of complex cases, including differential diagnoses.
7.To demonstrate specialist expertise in managing children with the highly complex special needs who present with one or more of the following: learning difficulties, mental health problems, autism, sensory needs and behaviour that challenges.
8.To use / apply specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements / decision making for case management, developing clear care plans based on best practice.
9.To demonstrate clinical effectiveness reflecting on evidence-based practice and outcome measures.
10.To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of children with communication difficulties.
11.To communicate complex condition related information from assessment to carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions, demonstrating empathy and ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist.
12.To work closely with clients, carers and families, in order to agree plan of management.
13.To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible
14.To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties.
16.To demonstrate skills in motivating clients and /or carers to engage in the therapeutic process.
17.To employ counselling skills with children, carers/families with highly complex needs.
18.To maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of children with special and complex needs and their carers, in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the client’s difficulties and implications of the same.
19.To demonstrate the ability to manage children with challenging behaviours including the application of appropriate management strategies.
20.To monitor and review the progress of children and young people against the targets set and agreed, and to modify targets as appropriate.
21.To adapt practice to meet individual patient/client circumstances.
22.To reflect on clinical practice both individually and with peers identifying strengths and needs and providing evidence of sound clinical judgements, based on research and evidence-based practice.
23.To develop the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of client’s communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness.
24.To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a speech and language therapy service.
25.To maintain up to date and accurate case notes and write reports reflecting highly specialist knowledge, ensuring that they meet departmental standards and are in line with local Trust Policy, and RCSLT professional standards.
26.To demonstrate knowledge of current policies and practice in education and incorporate these into the model of working as appropriate.
27.To manage and prioritise a complex and specialist caseload independently, advising line manager on issues of service delivery including shortfall, service pressures etc.
28.To demonstrate skills in dealing with complex issues to generate appropriate strategies for caseload management.
29.To contribute to multi-agency assessment procedures as required, including statutory educational assessment.
30.To demonstrate good negotiation skills across a range of issues and situations, recognising and resolving potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
- BSc. Speech Path or Equivalent (including Dip. CST)
- HCPC licence to practise, and registered member of RCSLT
- Successful completion of highly specialist/expert short courses relevant to field e.g. signing, ASD, physical disability
- Successful completion of highly specialist post graduate study relevant to field e.g. advanced ASD courses, Makaton Regional Tutor, AAC)
- Successful completion of highly specialist post graduate study in the field of paediatric dysphagia
Knowledge
- Of a highly specialist range of assessment tools and procedures to evaluate communication, speech & language skills relevant to paediatric special and complex needs including autism
- Of the key characteristics leading to a highly specialist differential diagnosis relevant to paediatric special and complex needs
- Of selecting, setting & evaluating highly specialist treatment goals
- f a highly specialist range of therapeutic interventions relevant to paediatric special and complex needs demonstrating the evidence base for these approaches
- The application of highly specialist knowledge of local cultural, linguistic & demographic factors to the management of and understanding of disability and communication difficulties.
Previous Experience
- Broad range of experience with relevant client groups post registration, including at a specialist level
- Of working at a specialist level in paediatric complex needs, including the management of children with mental health problems; ASD and LD
- Delivering highly specialist training to a range of audiences
- Carrying out evidence based / research projects
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
- Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
- Ensure you are familiar and comply with theLondon Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
- Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
- Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
- Participate in required training and supervision.
- Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Other important information –
- You must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom or fully meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship; however, we can only consider these where all UKVI requirements are met. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role satisfy the relevant UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points‑based system criteria, as applications that do not meet these requirements cannot be progressed. For more information about the criteria, please click here
- Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.
- In submitting an application form, you authorise WhittingtonHealth NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.
If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre‑employment checks youridentity and right to work documentation will be verifiedremotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk
Please note that during the recruitment process your Identity Documentation (i.e. passport, driving licence, visa, etc.) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, Infrared and Machine Readable Zone security features of the documents provided
The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
We would welcome applications from individuals who are from underrepresented groups in the organisation
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Application numbers
This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.
Name Kirsty Hammond Job title Team Lead, Bridge Schools Health and Therapy Team Email address kirsty.hammond1@nhs.net
If you have problems applying, contact
Address WHTTelephone If you have any queries, please contact NLPSS Recruitment Helpdesk tel. 020 3758 2060
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