Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

The Speech and Language Therapy Department at Kingston Hospital are pleased to offer this exciting role to lead and develop the Speech and Language Therapy service within Critical Care
The successful candidate will be a strong team player, be highly motivated and flexible, with a commitment to new ways of working and have an innovative approach to patient care and service delivery.
Experience in acute and critical care is essential. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate highly developed skills in the management of dysphagia and acquired communication disorders and be a competent practitioner with FEES, although we will consider applicants will limited experience. There will be some leadership responsibilities within the Speech and Language Therapy Department, so experience of supervising / line managing other SLTs would be an advantage. Other key responsibilities may include leading videofluoroscopy, running training sessions, deputising for the Principal SLT and covering acute medical caseload as required.
The successful candidate will have post-graduate specialist experience in swallowing and communication disorders, including tracheostomy, FEES and videofluoroscopy skills. They will have a proven track record of working as an autonomous SLT within a multi-disciplinary team. You should have recent and relevant experience in an acute setting with a high volume, high throughput caseload and be able to work well under pressure.
To provide an effective and evidenced-based Speech & Language service to adult in-patients with communication and / or swallowing difficulties within the critical care, medical and surgical settings. This will include patients on ventilators and with tracheostomy tubes in-situ. The post-holder will be expected to co-ordinate seamlessly with other SLT teams within the Trust to provide prompt and timely management of acute patients, according to the demand of services. The post holder will work as a highly specialist, autonomous practitioner, independently prioritising and managing an in-patient caseload. The role will also have responsibility for overseeing the management of caseloads of more junior members of staff within the SLT department. Participation in the development and monitoring of the SLT service to medicine, surgery will be required. The post-holder will also be expected to continue to develop their specialist skills and to deputise for the Principal SLT as requested. Supervision / management of other SLT teams during periods of sickness / annual leave will also be required.
Trust Values
Kingston Hospital NHS Trust has five key values and we want to employ and work with people who share these values and demonstrate behaviours that support them. They are:

• Caring – Design and deliver care around each individual patient’s needs and wants.
• Safe – Make the safety of patients and staff our prime concern as safety comes first
• Responsible – All staff take responsibility for the hospital, its services and reputation
• Value Each Other – Value each other's contribution
• Inspiring - We always strive to empower each other to develop and deliver improvements to benefit our patients

Please ensure that you have read the job description and person specification and that your supporting statement reflects these, as your application will be assessed and scored against these criteria.