Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Accepting applications until: 19-Jul-2026 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 19-Jul-2026 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Royal Brompton Hospital
- Address
- Sydney Street
- Town
- London
- Postcode
- SW3 6NP
- Major / Minor Region
- London
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary
- Salary
- £58,133 - £65,261 pa inc HCA
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 7)
Specialty
- Main area
- Allied Health Professionals
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
We are looking for a driven, dynamic and enthusiastic individual who has a passion, and clinical interest, in the specialty of chronic respiratory disease. The successful postholder will work within a small team of highly skilled speech and language therapists, working closely with other allied health professionals to provide highly specialist care to patients.
This is an exciting opportunity to extend skills with tertiary level patients including complex dysphagia and upper airway disorders across the varied field of respiratory medicine, including complex asthma, COPD (including lung volume reduction), neuromuscular disease and ILD. We offer opportunities to participate in regular objective instrumental swallow assessments (FEES and VFS) – please contact us for more information if you think this could be the role for you.
Advert
The post holder will be an integrated member of the multi-professional therapy team, providing therapy to patients with chronic and severe respiratory conditions at Royal Brompton Hospital. They will receive operational and professional management from the Clinical Specialist and Adult Clinical Lead SLTs.
They will lead the assessment, treatment and management of swallowing, voice, and upper airway disorders thrpughout the patient pathway in both outpatient and inpatient settings including in-reach to critical care. significant experience, in-depth knowledge and skills in advanced respiratory disease is essential, including non-invasive (NIV) and invasive ventilation (IV) via a tracheostomy for respiratory muscle weakness.
Completion of competency-based learning and substantial experience with instrumental dysphagia assessments is required (Level 2b FEES practitioner (or equivalent)), and significant experience in video fluoroscopy. Familiarity with using MBSImP in practice is desirable. Experience with inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) management and laryngoscopy with provocation is also desired.
The post holder will be part of the wider SLT team and be responsible for line management and clinical supervision of the band 5 and 6 Speech Language Therapists in the respiratory SLT service.
They may on occasions be asked to support other services and sites, including Harefield and Guys Hospitals as required by service needs.
Working for our organisation
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation. We are among the UK’s busiest, most successful foundation trusts.
We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and – as part of King’s Health Partners – we are one of England’s eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research’s biomedical research centres, established with King’s College London in 2007.
Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ in February 2021 and is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe. We provide treatment for people with heart and lung disease, including rare and complex conditions, offering some of the most sophisticated treatment that is available anywhere in the world.
Our integrated approach to caring for patients from before birth, through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood and old age has been replicated around the world and has gained Royal Brompton and Harefield an international reputation as a leader in heart and lung diagnosis, treatment and research.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main tasks and responsibilities
Communication
1. To provide highly specialist advice and input for patients with communication and swallowing needs at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals
2. To liaise with SLTs, AHPs, medical and nursing teams, and other members of the MDT regarding prioritisation, case management and risk management of patients with communication and swallowing disorders.
3. To demonstrate interpersonal skills that grow and maintain positive working relationships with all healthcare professionals involved in patient care.
4. To communicate sensitive and complex information and sometimes unwelcome news tactfully and diplomatically to patients, parents and carers, acknowledging this may trigger a range of emotions, and to provide ongoing counselling and support.
5. To promote and contribute to multi-professional team building and collaborative practices, e.g. knowledge and skills sharing, joint working.
6. To ensure close liaison with SLT colleagues in other trusts including community teams to ensure adequate handover of individual cases working towards a seamless service.
7. To promote the department, the Trust and the profession by participating in joint initiatives with other members of the team as required by the operational and professional leadership team.
8. To write comprehensive, clear reports to inform medical, education and social services with regard to current and future needs of the patient.
9. To recognise communication breakdown/conflict when it occurs and generate potential solutions.
10. To network with other SLTs locally, nationally and internationally.
11. To produce information for patients which is accessible and user friendly and in accordance with Trust policy.
12. To demonstrate empathy with patients and their carers, particularly in situations where they may be highly stressed or grieving and where barriers to understanding may exist (e.g. linguistic and cultural differences).
13. To contribute positively and constructively to staff meetings and in-service trainings.
Please see the job description document for full role responsibilities.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Skills
Essential criteria
- Delivering high-quality supervision, teaching and training to others
Desirable criteria
- Completion of Practice Educator training and delivery of student placements
Experience
Essential criteria
- In-depth knowledge and experience in assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders in adults
- Post-qualification experience in adult dysphagia including VF clinician, RCSLT 2a FEEs assessor, flexible nasendoscopy
- Experience of working with patients with acute and long-term conditions affecting respiratory and neuromuscular function, including MND and muscular dystrophy
- Familiarity with management of upper airway disorders including laryngeal hypersensitivity, ILO and chronic refractory cough
- Post-qualification experience in assessing and managing adults with acquired voice, speech, language and cognitive-communication disorders
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and experience of managing vocal fold movement impairment following surgical procedures
- Knowledge and experience working with patients with voice disorders
- Completion of Lead VF competencies
- Experience of laryngoscopy with provocation
Knowledge/ Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Recognised degree accredited by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- HCPC registration
- Post-graduate dysphagia training or equivalent supervised experience
- Completion of post-qualification education (e.g. short courses)
Desirable criteria
- Registration with RCSLT
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Gemma Korff
- Job title
- Therapy Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Claire Mills ([email protected])
Start your application
Sign in
Create an account
Create your account and apply for your new job!