Speech and Language Therapist - Band 5

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To have responsibility for the assessment of, provide appropriate intervention for, and the management of client’s communication abilities and deficits
2. To have responsibility for the assessment of, provide appropriate intervention for, and the management of client’s eating and drinking skills within clinical competence
3. Responsibility for independently organising and prioritising caseloads within Southwark, advising line management of shortfalls and difficulties as they arise
4. To develop and maintain close working relationships with colleagues in health, social services, education and not for profit
5. To liaise with staff, support workers, tutors, professional team members and all significant others on all aspects of client services
6. To act as a source of reference and advice for this client group within the borough teams
7. To co-ordinate the interface with other service providers for the implementation of home programmes and appropriate input into person centred planning
8. The maintenance of client case notes in keeping with professional standards, as per guidance from RCSLT and HCPC and local department policies
9. To develop training packages for the implementation of communication approaches within a range of environments
10. To assess client’s eating and drinking skills using a risk assessment model, taking into consideration complex pre-existing conditions, living situation and with due regard to cultural and legal issues, within clinical competence
11. To write reports and guidelines using formats that are accessible to the person, carers/family ensuring that existing barriers to communication are accommodated
12. To be able to use a variety of software packages including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Boardmaker, GRID 3, Inprint
13. To be aware of the use and application of multimedia packages and equipment such as digital stills cameras, digital movie cameras and audio recording devices
14. Any other duties designated by the Speech Language Therapy Manager, Services for Adults with Learning Disabilities compatible with the grading structure and sphere of competence.

To have a working knowledge of legal requirements relating to the provision of a speech and language therapy service.

To develop the problem solving and negotiation skills of others within supervision sessions and case discussions.

To adhere to and to ensure that team policies are implemented.

To contribute to inter-agency/multi-disciplinary team building and policy development.

To reflect on clinical practice, identifying strengths and needs and providing evidence of sound clinical judgements.

To develop excellent negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations.

To proactively seek support and supervision from Senior Speech and Language Therapists as appropriate

Provides advice and support to volunteers, visitors, and work experience students.

To be responsible for the planning of support and supervision to non-qualified staff as delegated.

To ensure that standards of clinical care and administration are established, agreed and maintained, and audited within the sector of the service.

To provide statistical information as required by the Manager of the Services.

To be an active participant is the development of PDR goals, and  considering career development based upon the 4 pillars of practice

To provide relevant information as requested by Speech and Language Therapy Manager for use in service development and strategic planning.

To ensure maintenance of up to date case notes and timely provision of reports on clients as per Professional Standards, department and local team procedures.

To be an active member within Speech and Language Therapy team for Adults with Learning Disabilities Services.

To participate in the community team’s clinical meetings and to present cases for planned reviews.

To act as a representative of the Speech Language Therapy profession at business meetings and any other relevant meetings.

To be responsible for the management and prioritisation of own workload.

 To supervise student clinical placements.

To participate in health promotion activities and contribute towards increasing public awareness of communication difficulties for adults with learning disabilities.

To respond to identified training needs of the various staff teams of other service providers by developing training packs that meet the staff/client needs and to implement the training.

To contribute to evidence-based practice projects within the speech therapy team by providing data.

To contribute to speech therapy audit projects and implement findings.

To develop own audit projects.

To maintain current knowledge by reading and participating in events arranged by the CEN e.g. AWLD CEN.

The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including:

 Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff.   If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an unauthorised person those staff will be liable to dismissal.   Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the Trust’s FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information. 

Information Governance

All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These includes statutory responsibilities (such as compliance with the Data Protection Act), following national guidance (such as the NHS Confidentiality  Code of Practice) and compliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy). Staff are responsible for any personal information (belonging to staff or patients) that they access and must ensure it is stored, processed and forwarded in a secure and appropriate manner.

Equal Opportunities

Post holders must at all times fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy and equality laws.

Health and Safety

All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that the Trust’s health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors and employees.

Infection Control

All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required by the Trust to reduce HCAIs.  All post holders must comply with Trust infection screening and immunisation policies as well as be familiar with the Trust’s Infection Control Policies, including those that apply to their duties, such as Hand Decontamination Policy, Personal Protective Equipment Policy, safe procedures for using aseptic techniques and safe disposal of sharps. 

All post holders have a responsibility to report risks such as clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly. They are expected to be familiar with the Trust’s use of risk assessments to predict and control risk, as well as the incident reporting system for learning from mistakes and near misses in order to improve services. Post holders must also attend training identified by their manager, or stated by the Trust to be mandatory.

Flexible Working

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

Post holders have a general responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Sustainability

It is the responsibility of all staff to minimise the Trust’s environmental impact by recycling wherever possible, switching off lights, computers monitors and equipment when not in use, minimising water usage and reporting faults promptly.