Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist NHS AfC: Band 7 Main area Voice Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 9 months (Until April 2026) Hours Part time - 18.75 hours per week Job ref 196-LIS9637

Employer Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Guy's Hospital Town London Salary £54,320 - £60,981 p.a inc HCA (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 06/07/:59 Interview date 16/07/2025

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 Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Voice (Severe asthma service)

Maternity Leave cover: 9 months

An opportunity has arisen for an experienced and enthusiastic Speech and Language Therapist to join our Voice team at GSTT. You will be working with the severe asthma team in the respiratory service and will be supported and supervised by the Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist in Voice.

You will have significant post graduate specialist experience of managing a caseload of voice patients referred from ENT as well as experience in the management of upper airway disorders.You will have specific competencies in areas of objective and perceptual assessment of voice and in evaluation of stroboscopic laryngeal images. You will be able to demonstrate competence in independently managing this caseload of patients.

You will have access to the 8 weekly Voice Clinics and will be a key link between the severe asthma team and ENT.

Main duties of the job

• To take independent clinical responsibility for the provision of a high-quality Speech and Language Therapy service to adult patients with voice and upper airway disorders.
• To deliver and develop a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapy service in collaboration with the severe asthma team and the Clinical Lead SLT in voice disorders.
• To work as a core member of the severe asthma MDT,

Working for our organisation The Speech and Language Therapy Service at GSTT offers a supportive team of highly experienced colleagues, excellent supervision and peer support plus opportunities for continuing professional development. This post would be an excellent opportunity for someone who may wish to develop their skills further in a dedicated specialist service.

Active multi-professional working is strongly encouraged and there are regular opportunities to provide training to other disciplines along with service development opportunities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To take a specialist role in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of outpatients with upper airway disorders, such as chronic cough, laryngeal hypersensitivity, and inducible laryngeal obstruction, as well as patients with asthma, who may have accompanying upper airway symptoms
• To demonstrate extensive knowledge of laryngeal and respiratory function to underpin highly specialist treatment of patients with upper airway disorders
• To develop and deliver therapy groups in collaboration with the Respiratory MDT and to maintain a database for future audit and research
• To be flexible to the needs of the caseload and the severe asthma service.
• To identify patients requiring ENT assessment of their dysphonia and facilitate onward referral to the Voice Clinic
• To identify patients requiring provocation clinic assessment and treatment for ILO
• To attend and contribute to weekly MDT meetings, referring appropriately to other professionals and arranging joint working where needed to ensure the delivery of effective, integrated therapy

Please see job description for full JD

Person specification Knowledge/Qualifications

• Diploma/Degree leading to RCSLT licence to practice
• Registered Member HCPC
• Post-graduate specialist training relevant to upper airway disorders and complex breathlessness

Previous Experience

• Significant experience of working independently with a specialist caseload of voice patients - minimum 3 years
• Significant post-qualification experience of assessing and treating patients with laryngeal, respiratory, breathing pattern or upper airway disorders.
• Extensive knowledge of laryngeal, ENT, respiratory and breathing pattern disorders
• Knowledge and experience in the use of instrumental assessment tools
• Experience of working as an integrated member of an MDT
• Participation in multidisciplinary voice clinic or SLT Led clinic
• Participation in audit and research

Skills

• Able to demonstrate a high level of competence in independent management of dysphonic patients with a range of aetiologies both structural and functional.
• Advanced skills in laryngeal/upper airway disorders
• Ability to assess and treat complex patients in this speciality

Guy's and St Thomas'celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.

Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

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.

We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personalcircumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.

Your e-mail address is important to us -We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.
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