Band 6 Specialist Speech and Language Therapist – Stroke

Job summary

We have an opportunity for a part-time Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join our stroke team at QEHB.
Our service supports a wide range of patient from hyper-acute stroke to stroke rehabilitation. Our unit is a designated
Hyper-acute Stroke Research Centre (HSRC) and supports patients from across the region. The stroke SLT team
benefits from a team leader, 3 Specialist SLTs, a Band 5 SLT and an SLT assistant. The team works closely with the wider
SLT team across many specialist areas.
Our SLTs benefit from a robust supervision structure alongside innovation, participation in research and
clinical/professional development being encouraged. You would be part of a well-established team which also benefits
from SLT led Videofluoroscopy and FEES services so opportunities to access these instrumental assessments to help to
shape your clinical practice would also be available.
QEHB benefits from one of the largest acute SLT teams in the country with more than 40 team members and our Trust
is one of the largest teaching hospital Trusts in England serving a national and international population, treating over
2.8 million people every year.
The team offers:

A full induction programme, robust supervision & peer support
A wide range of opportunities for research and career development
Access to videofluoroscopy & FEES
Modern facilities with good transport links

Main duties, tasks & skills required

The successful candidate would be part of the acute stroke team serving a diverse clinical caseload at QEHB. You
would work closely with the SLT Team Leaders, NQP Speech and Language Therapists and peer Specialist Speech and
Language Therapy to provide an excellent level of care to our patient group.
The successful candidate will have a clear passion in assessing and managing dysphagia and communication
difficulties relating to the stroke caseload. Your responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

assessing and managing patients with swallowing and communication disorders on the acute stroke ward
service development and audit
working closely with the MDT
training of junior colleagues and students
working towards utilising specialist assessments such e.g. FEES, tracheostomy
working flexibly and thriving in a fast-paced environment

We have a large team who share a caseload of diverse patient cohorts so being a team player is essential. We would
welcome a candidate who is has experience working with patients in the specialist areas but our supportive team will
be willing to support your development.
At present, we have a voluntary weekend service in some clinical areas.
We would welcome interested candidates to get in touch for an informal discussion. Please contact Stef Matthews
(Professional Lead) via Stefanie.matthews@uhb.nhs.uk or 0121 371 3483.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.
Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:
Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can; Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.
UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their ‘whole self’ to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.
University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.

Job description
*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

A good standard of secondary education including A-Level or equivalent.
BSc or recognised MSc degree in Speech and Language Therapy.
Membership of RCSLT.
Registration with HCPC.
Completed RCSLT Level C / EDS Level 5 dysphagia competencies (or above).
Completed RCSLT NQP competencies.

Desirable
Advanced competencies such as tracheostomy, FEES or videofluoroscopy.

Experience

Essential

Experience of working independently with adult dysphagia caseload.
Experience of working within an adult inpatient and/or outpatient setting.
Experience working within stroke and/or relevant caseload.

Desirable

Membership of a relevant CEN.
Experience supervising or training junior colleagues.
Experience of working successfully as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Additional Criteria

Essential

In depth theoretical and practical knowledge of assessment and management of dysphagia, dysarthria, dyspraxia and dysphonia and dysphasia.
Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
Ability to communicate sensitive and complex information effectively and an awareness of the appropriate use of counselling skills.
Excellent skills of persuasion, motivation, negotiation and problem solving skills with patients, colleagues in the department, the MDT and other professionals.
Effective communication skills with people who have significant and complex communication and or swallowing difficulties.
Well-developed perceptual and auditory skills.
Ability to absorb, interpret and summarise verbal information in a clinical environment.
Systematic and organised.
Keen to embrace change consistent with delivery of service whilst keeping the patient as an individual at the centre of care.
Punctual and reliable in service delivery.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Ability to work weekends as part of a 7 day working pattern (when appropriate service delivery allows and commences).

Desirable
In depth theoretical and practical knowledge of treatment and management of patients with co-morbidities and long term progressive conditions.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK Professional Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.