Advanced Speech and Language Therapist Over 5’s PathwayNHS

Job summary

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service are looking for a band 7 Advanced Speech and Language Therapist Specialism in Autism/Neighbourhood Lead to join our large and diverse team on the school-aged pathway.

You will take a clinical lead in the delivery and co-ordination of speech and language therapy provision to a neighbourhood of schools as part of our friendly and supportive leadership team. You will have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills by supporting the Manager for Mainstream Schools and Resource Bases in the operational management of school-aged pathways. You will hold a specialist Autism caseload alongside protected leadership time, including 0.4 in a Specialist School for children with Autism ages 4-19 years.

Main duties of the job

You will benefit from:

• Inner London HCA (High-Cost Living Allowance)
• A shared base with the wider team at Kaleidoscope Centre Catford.
• Great transport links and easy access to central London.
• Weekly protected admin time.
• A range of digital resources including I-pads for assessment and an allocated, networked laptop for offsite working.
• Access to regular team training and CPD events.
• Great peer support from a friendly and diverse team.
• Access to a range of therapists with clinical specialisms, able to offer CPD opportunities and second opinions
• Opportunities to work with colleagues across clinical pathways on service delivery, audit and quality improvement projects.
• Involvement in developing and delivering training to education staff. The team is registered as a college with the Open College Network (OCN) allowing our learners to gain high quality, recognised qualifications.

Job description

Job Summary:

• Accountable to Therapies Manager.
• To provide clinical leadership and highly specialist speech and language therapy assessment and participation for the schools pathway providing differential diagnosis, assessment and review of children and young people referred to Schools Pathway.
• To identify, develop, implement and evaluate highly specialist training (formal/informal) in speech, language and communication disorders in school age children and young people for parent/carers, speech and language therapists, paediatricians, teaching staff and a range of professionals, within and external to the Trust taking account of different levels of knowledge and skills of the audience.
• To act as an expert witness/advisor providing expert clinical opinion to Lewisham Education SEN Service, attending Special Educational Needs Tribunals, Disagreement Resolution Meetings and other relevant meetings as required ensuring that the childs speech and language therapy needs and the level of resources required to meet these are clarified.
• To ensure that the service provided is integrated (within the relevant multi/uni disciplinary care pathways), evidence based and delivered in accordance with care pathways/protocols and responsive to the needs of the local population.
• To independently assess, diagnose, manage and evaluate outcomes for children and young people presenting with a range of speech, language, communication difficulties some of which may be highly complex, and provide second opinions as required.
• The post holder will hold a specialism within the profile of the clinical caseload.

About us

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

• Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
• Improving the experience of staff with disability
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
• Making equalities mainstream