Job summary
Islington Additional Needs and Disability Team (IANDS) is a multidisciplinary service for children and young people 0-19.We are seeking a Band 6 SLT to join our supportive special schools team. The successful applicant will work at Richard Cloudesley school for the first year, with the option of a mixed caseload at Samuel Rhodes school or Bridge Academy after this dependent on service needs & interests. All three schools have been rated outstanding, and support children and young people with a variety of needs, including physical disabilities, learning difficulties and autistic spectrum conditions.
You will work alongside an experienced team of speech and language therapists as well as being part of the multidisciplinary and multi-agency team, including working with specialist teachers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, paediatricians and other professionals.
Islington is a culturally diverse borough with many multi-ethnic, bilingual and multi-lingual speaking communities. Working within the school, you will deliver a universal, targeted and specialist service to children and young people who have special educational needs. At Richard Cloudesley, the majority of children use a form of AAC including symbol and paper-based communication systems, makaton, mid-tech communication supports and speech-generating devices.
Main duties of the job
The post holder is responsible for organising and managing a defined caseload of children. They are responsible for delivering a universal, targeted and specialist service to children and young people who have special educational needs related to learning disability, physical disability, sensory impairment and social and emotional behaviour difficulties.
The post holder will deliver indirect interventions including developing and delivering universal and targeted training packages for staff and families to support children with complex communication needs, providing communication consultation for staff and families. They will also provide direct interventions including assessment, liaison, and episodes of face-to-face therapy for individual/groups of children and young people as well as work within the MDT. 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.
We will support you to develop dysphagia competencies following RCSLT dysphagia competencies framework.
We are happy to discuss term time or flexible hours.
About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To demonstrate clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of, language and communication difficulties in children and young people providing appropriate specialist intervention and evaluating outcomes.
To demonstrate highly developed perceptual skills in the assessment and treatment of young people with special educational needs.
To make appropriate specialist clinical decisions on evidence from assessment of complex cases, seeking advice as appropriate.
To develop knowledge and skills in managing children with special educational needs, seeking training, support and supervision from clinical supervisor as appropriate.
To develop clear care plans based on best practice.
To demonstrate clinical effectiveness reflecting on evidence based practice and outcome measures.
To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of children with communication difficulties.
To communicate complex condition related information 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.
To work closely with clients, carers, MDT and families, in order to agree plan of management.
To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible
To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties.
To demonstrate excellent communication skills.
To demonstrate skills in motivating clients and /or parents/carers to engage in the therapeutic process.
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 clients difficulties and implications of the same.
To demonstrate the ability to manage children with challenging behaviours including the application of appropriate management strategies.
To monitor and review the progress of children and young people against the targets set and agreed, and to modify targets as appropriate.
To adapt practice to meet individual client circumstances.
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 the evidence based practice.
To develop the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of clients communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness.
To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a speech and language therapy service.
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.
To demonstrate knowledge of current policies and practice in education and incorporate these into the model of working as appropriate.
To manage and prioritise a complex and specialist caseload independently, advising line manager on issues of service delivery including shortfall, service pressures etc.
To demonstrate skills in dealing with complex issues to generate appropriate strategies for caseload management.
To contribute to multi-agency assessment procedures as required.
To demonstrate good negotiation skills across a range of issues and situations, recognising and resolving potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs.
To ensure that children and young people are referred to other services as appropriate.
To monitor and evaluate specialist service delivery and provide progress reports as required.
To demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the issues associated with clinical governance and their application to professional practice. This will include compliance with / adherence to, and implementation of service and service area and Trust policies, National and Local guidelines and RCSLT Professional and Clinical and Guidelines.
To develop a working knowledge of relevant procedures including: Safeguarding Children, SEN procedures, working with Vulnerable Adults and other legal frameworks.
To be accountable for professional action and recognising professional boundaries, and working within defined departmental and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct.
To work independently accessing appraisal within an Personal Development Review at pre-determined intervals.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- BSc Speech Path or Equivalent (including Dip. CST)
- HPC licence to practice and registered member of RCSLT
Desirable
- Successful completion of highly specialist/ expert short or post graduate courses relevant to field
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with clients with special educational needs and complex needs
- Experience of working at a specialist level in paediatric complex needs, including the management of children with LD, Physical Disabilities
- Experience delivering training in collaboration with other SLT's
Desirable
- Experience of assessing and managing children with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties
skills
Essential
- Excellent communication skills
- Skills in delivering presentations and training, including basic adaptations to presentations for a range of audiences
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.
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 Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
Address
Richard Cloudesley School
101 Whitecross Street
London
EC1Y 8JA