Advanced Specialist Speech and Language Therapist for Children in Care
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is one of the top performing organisations within the NHS. Our staff think this is a great place to work and we hope you will agree. We have recently been rated as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following our most recent inspection.
We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the whole county. This includes our Community Teams in North Warwickshire.
We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity. Over 6000 people work for the Trust and many of them have been here a long time. People find they don’t need to go elsewhere to find a fulfilling career in healthcare.
The first thing you will notice about us is how we take our values seriously. We believe that our values underpin everything we do. If you are interested in a role with us you need to make sure our values match your own.
Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are ‘Trusted to provide inclusive, safe, effective and compassionate care’. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work.It doesn’t matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.
Probationary Period
All new staff to the Trust will be subject to a standard 6 month probationary period, the details of which will duly follow in your contract of employment.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is committed to creating and sustaining a positive and inclusive working environment for all our employees. Our aim is to ensure that employees are equally valued and respected and that our organisation is representative of all members of society.We define diversity as valuing everyone as an individual – we value our employees, job applicants, students, patients and visitors as people. This is reflected within our values of being Inclusive, Safe, Effective, Compassionate and Trusted.
Agile and Flexible Working
All our staff will have a work base. However the Trust operates as an Agile Working Team therefore staff may be working from home on a regular basis as required by the service. However, occasionally travel around Warwickshire and into your base will be required so access to your own transport would be helpful.
The Trust also welcome staff to work flexibly and we would welcome the conversation at interview regarding flexible working.
Staff Benefits
The Trust offer a wide range of additional benefits to staff. Anyone who joins us on a substantive basis can assess things such as the Lease Car Scheme, Electronics Scheme, Discounted Leisure and Travel, Cycle to work scheme amongst many others available.
Car Parking
The Trust have recently completed the construction of a multi-storey car park at our Warwick Hospital site which has allowed us to reduce waiting times for car parking passes.
To keep up to date on our latest recruitment activity follow us on twitter @swftrecruit or look us up on Facebook (Recruitment - South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust).
Job overview
This is an exciting 12-month opportunity for an Advanced Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to be part of a project working in partnership with Warwickshire Local Authority’s Corporate Parenting Service from April 2025 – end of March 2025.The project is specifically to support the speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) of Children in Care. It was started in April 2022 by an Advanced Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and is funded until end of March 2026. The opportunity has arisen due to a move from the current post holder.
Your base would be in Warwick and could involve travel across Warwickshire and on occasions just outside of Warwickshire. A working week of 4 days may be considered.
You should have significant and relevant experience of working with children with SLCN who have cooccurring social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. The role is to work autonomously and be responsible for the strategy of the project as well as related clinical care.The three strategic strands are: screen, train, support. Stakeholder engagement is key. It is vital to be able to work independently as well with a large variety of stakeholders. You should be highly self-motivated, be able to work with qualitative and quantitative data, and provide project reports.
At South Warwickshire Foundation Trust we have a large, established wider SLT team, and so access to supervision and CPD is provided.
Interviews will take place on 30th January 2025.
Main duties of the job- To independently deliver and develop a strategy for supporting and maximising the communication of children and young people (CYP) with speech, language, and communication needs who are known to the Youth Justice Service (YJS) / Children in Care (CiC) Service.
To devise and deliver training to staff and other professionals.
Working for our organisation
Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.
We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.
Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are ‘Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care’. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work.It doesn’t matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Responsibility for developing and delivering a communication strategy in partnership with the YJS / CiC Service. The model of care will focus on- direct treatment for individuals with high need
- delivery of a range of interventions which will offer sustainable support to CYP
- increasing community capacity by teaching and upskilling others
Responsibility for providing supervision to other Speech and Language Therapists working with CYP with Social and Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) needs as required.
Liaising with the Service Leads and key professionals within the Youth Justice / Children in Care services ensuring that there is joint agreement on service priorities and support for models of service delivery.
Provision of training and specific advice for staff.
Specialist assessment of communication where a need is identified. Imparting complex and sensitive information to families and staff and applying appropriate behaviour management strategies for the CYP.
Clinical Responsibilities
To use highly developed interpersonal skills to:
Ø Facilitate communication so that the needs of the young person are central to the process
Ø Play a pivotal role in ensuring effective joint working for young people with communication difficulties.
To prioritise own work and manage own complex workload efficiently and effectively
To assess and analyse the communication environments within the services and use clinical knowledge to provide appropriate advice and training to staff.
To assess and analyse speech, language, communication disorders in children with highly complex needs, using specialist knowledge to select appropriate formal and/or informal assessments, including standardised psychometric tests and skilled observations.
To negotiate with parents/carers and education staff to agree appropriate management for students which may include any combination of the following:
Ø Therapeutic intervention with CYP either individually or in groups
Ø Groups run jointly with YJS/CiC Service staff.
Ø Programmes jointly planned and implemented with YJS/CiC Service Staff
Ø Directing and supporting others in carrying out individual programmes
Ø Providing advice at a Universal level
Ø Providing advice on specific strategies
Ø Advising referral to other professionals where indicated.
To recognise potential breakdown or conflict and use sensitivity and problem solving skills to reach agreement.
To be flexible and responsive to CYP who may be challenging or have complex difficulties in order to prioritise theirs and your own safety
To motivate CYP to achieve positive communication outcomes.
To communicate complex and specialist information to others through face to face discussion, written reports and programmes, adapting communication style and content to the needs of the situation and the recipient.
To liaise with other professionals and teams in a consultative capacity in relation to the management of groups or individuals.
To attend or otherwise contribute to meetings involving families and other professionals, e.g. case conferences.
To form productive and sensitive relationships with families, particularly where:
Ø They may be in a state of emotional flux
Ø Difficult or potentially unwelcome news needs to be given
Ø There are potential barriers to communication.
Specialist/Specific Clinical Responsibilities
To act as second opinion and advise other Speech & Language Therapists and other professionals about CYP with social and emotional mental health (SEMH) difficulties with respect to communication needs.
To have knowledge of and take account of the potential communication and wider social and learning needs of service users
Provide a screening assessment to CYP with a possible need.
Provide specialist assessment for those with a clear need.
Deliver intervention programmes to individuals or groups to support young people to develop their own strategies to facilitate communication.
To work with CYP to develop bespoke communication passports, enabling them to easily inform others they are in contact with of how best to support them.
To improve access to information for all CYP using the services.
To include modifying written information to help accessibility.
To provide templates and advice to professionals on how to create accessible documentation (including leaflets and reports)
Consultation with professionals involved with CYP to provide advice on how to communicate effectively or modify verbally delivered programmes to support engagement/compliance.
Staff training to raise awareness of SLCN, help carers and staff to identify and enable the development of strategies to support the young people they deal with day to day.
Train professionals in use of appropriate screening tools to identify and intervene early with CYP who have SLCN.
Audit and support all environments used by CYP and provide bespoke advice to create communication friendly environments.
Team Leader Responsibilities
In conjunction with the team leader for the Special School Team:
To provide effective clinical leadership, enabling the team to deliver the highest possible care standards, ensuring that evidence based practice is used. To act as an excellent role model and exercise good leadership
To develop and refine a communication strategy to be delivered by all school staff
To plan, organise and co-ordinate the delivery of Speech & Language Therapy services within YJS / CiC Service
To meet regularly with Service Leads to agree mutual aims and objectives, and to solve potential problems
To act as the first-line contact for queries and complaints
To work collaboratively with key players in Special Schools and the SEMH SLT Team on joint ventures to integrate communication into the curriculum
To negotiate accommodation
Working Relationships
To work with the Team Lead for Special Schools and therapists in the wider team to achieve seamless and co-ordinated service provision, to design and provide training packages, and to develop project work.
To consult with highly specialist SLT’s in Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dysfluency, and school age SLCN, as appropriate and to jointly manage individual cases.
To work collaboratively with a range of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals to provide high quality specialist SLT services for CYP using the YJS / CiC service.
Within the Trust
GP’s
Consultants
Clinical Psychologists
Occupational Therapists
External
Professionals within the YJS / CiC Services
Specialist Teachers
Educational Psychologists
Social services
Specialist SLT advisers from other districts
Independent Speech & Language Therapists
Parents and Carers
Service Evaluation and Research
To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team within the children’s speech and language therapy service , children’s services and department’s operational policies, including caseload prioritisation systems and care pathways
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice
To provide statistical information on own workload, including activity and clinical effectiveness measures
To participate in clinical governance and audit activities in the team, the wider Speech & Language Therapy service and within multi-disciplinary teams
To participate in research/Fieldwork in the team, wider Speech & Language Therapy service and within multi-disciplinary teams if required, under the supervision of a lead researcher
To participate in developing innovations in clinical intervention and quality standards setting in this specialist area
To participate in the development of relevant policies.
To monitor service delivery needs and collaborate with the Team Lead and head of service in implementing these
Teaching/Training/Support
To contribute to the department’s development and provision of training packages and information materials for parents, staff and other professionals
To develop training packages and information materials specific to communication in schools for children with SEMH.
To train school staff in communication approaches for children with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs
To provide training in communication and Speech & Language development, to a range of other professional organisations in both public and voluntary sectors
To provide professional and clinical teaching for SLT students
To support junior colleagues, undergraduate Speech & Language Therapy students and assistants as part of their training, professional development and emotional support
To promote the role of SLT’s and the importance of communication to visitors, students and volunteers
To support the training of other professionals groups as appropriate
Professional
To maintain clinical and non-clinical standards, and to work within the policy frameworks laid down by various government and professional bodies e.g. NHS, SWFT, SLT Department, Health Professionals Council (HPCP), Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT), and relevant government policies, such as the National Service Framework
To continuously develop clinical expertise and achieve goals set for personal and professional development
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree or equivalent
- Registered member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- Health Professionals Council Registration
- Evidence of continuing professional development since qualification, including successful completion of specialist short courses up to master’s degree level
- Trained in Makaton Signing Vocabulary
- Trained in relevant short courses including Colourful Semantics, SCERTS, Talkabout
- MSc in Human Communication
- Makaton Regional Tutors’ Course
- Trained in team building or leadership skills
- Membership of relevant Special Interest Groups
Experience
Essential criteria- Significant relevant experience post registration including collaborative practice working in schools
- Demonstrate knowledge and expertise in working with client group
- Experience of working with specialised clinical groups e.g. Autism, Social, Emotional, Mental Health Needs Sensory processing disorder, anxiety disorders, dysfluency, developmental trauma and attachment difficulties, ADHD, PDA
- Experience of giving and receiving clinical supervision
- Experience of developing and using prioritisation systems
- Experience in providing second opinions
- Experience of multidisciplinary team working
- Experience in developing and delivering training
- Experience of team leadership and supervising less experience staff
Skills
Essential criteria- Demonstrate well-established knowledge of a range of specific formal and informal assessment tools relevant to the client group
- Demonstrate highly developed skills in the analysis of receptive, expressive and pragmatic language skills, motor skills, memory, fluency, intelligibility, functional communication, psychosocial development, and emotional literacy
- Demonstrate highly development auditory discrimination skills, in order to carry out phonetic transcription and analysis
- Demonstrate an ability to analyse and interpret the complex information from assessment in light of the client’s other strengths and needs, the context and the environmental demands in order to generate viable options for management
- Demonstrate knowledge of a range of therapeutic interventions related to the client group
- Knowledge of the importance of visual support systems and skills in supporting others to use them
- Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of national policies, procedures, legislation and frameworks relevant to this client group
- Demonstrate excellent presentation skills, verbal, written and audio-visual, including computer generated materials e.g. Power Point
- Demonstrate well developed communication skills and an ability to match communication style and content to the needs of the situation
- Demonstrate ability to support others using a coaching approach staff
- Demonstrate the attributes needed for team and collaborative working
- Demonstrate good time management and organisational skills
- Demonstrate effective prioritisation skills
- Demonstrate highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills
- Demonstrate ability to manage conflict / dissipate anger
- Demonstrate ability to motivate others
- Demonstrate ability to assume leadership responsibilities
- Demonstrate ability to translate ideas into actions and to lead on small project work
- Demonstrate skill in interpreting challenging behaviour whilst not intervening, remaining calm, and keeping safe
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria- Demonstrate excellent interpersonal abilities – observation, listening, diplomacy, sensitivity and empathy
- Demonstrate problem solving and negotiation abilities taking account of others perspectives and expectations
- Demonstrate an ability to work both independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary group
- Demonstrate skills to lead and organise training for other professionals
- Demonstrate a realistic sense of own limitations and professional development needs
- Demonstrate ability to motivate children with communication and/or eating and drinking difficulties
- Able to work flexibly and adaptably
- Able to work autonomously/independently
- Ability to work to tight deadlines
- Demonstrate flexibility, self-motivation and a good sense of humour
Other
Essential criteria- Car driver and current licence holder
- DBS Check
- Pass Occupational Health Check
- Able to adapt to a range of physical environments and demands
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Sometimes we get a lot of applications for our roles. On those occasions we might close the job early. If you don’t want to miss out we recommend submitting your application as early as possible.
The Trust use an Applicant Management System called TRAC which helps us manage the recruitment process. All communications regarding your application will come via TRAC (even if you applied via NHS Jobs).
Please check your TRAC account regularly and ensure your email is set up to accept messages so they don't go into your junk/spam folder.
We aim to shortlist all vacancies within 2 days of the vacancy closing, we will get back to all candidates ASAP.
Please ensure all sections of the application form are completed fully. Please particularly ensure that you provide full details of all referees including business email address, telephone contact details and postal address.
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is an equal opportunities employer who is committed to Equality and Diversity and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the grounds of any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.
All South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust sites are smoke free. We feel it’s a great way to help our patients, visitors and staff stay healthy.
The Trust is part of a ‘Foundation Group’ through a strategic alliance with Wye Valley NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. This partnership is great for the sustainability of all four organisations and allows us to share learning and maximise opportunities to ensure the delivery of high quality health and care services for our local populations.