Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist - Head and Neck

We are looking for two highly skilled, motivated and innovative Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapists, with excellent communication and leadership skills to lead the Head and Neck Cancer Team at UHL as part of the Speech and Language Therapy service. This is an exciting time for the service. Having provided an acute service to Leicestershire hospitals for many years as part of the community trust, the service has recently joined UHL and has continued to establish itself as an integral part of AHP services within UHL. The service is supported by a Clinical Service Lead and a new Head of Service. The Trust also has a Chief AHP, ensuring that all AHP services and professions are represented at Board and Executive Levels. The post holders, as part of the service leadership team, will lead the Head and Neck Cancer Team, supporting the development and expansion of the team. This will provide a fantastic opportunity to work closely with colleagues within Leicester's ENT, Maxillofacial and Oncology teams to develop innovative clinical pathways to meet the needs of patients and their carers. We are a friendly, innovative, supportive and culturally diverse team. As well as established relationships within UHL, the team has close links with education providers, Leicestershire community service and the wider AHP community. The service provides excellent opportunities for continuing professional development. Opportunities for flexible working arrangements are also provided., You will provide operational, clinical and professional leadership to ensure the delivery of high quality care to patients and their caeres and to ensure performance standards are met. You will also contribute to strategic leadership as part of the Speech and Language Senior Management team . As an experienced and highly specialist SLT you will prioritise and manage a highly specialist caseload of head and neck cancer patients. This will include management of complex laryngectomy patients including valve changes, tracheostomy care and instrumental assessment of dysphagia ( FEES and videofluoroscopy ) . Working in collaboration with the relevant Clinical Management Groups, you will be responsible for the transformation and continuous improvement of the service, using quality improvement approaches to support the development of an integrated, efficient, and responsive Speech and Language Therapy service. This is currently a small team with opportunities to further increase the SLT workforce in this specialist clinical area. The post holders will support restructuring of the service, with the potential of creating leadership over two distinct areas e.g. inpatient /outpatient services and ENT /maxfax patients as staffing increases.

Our new strategy, developed with the support and feedback of colleagues, patients, and partners, is our compass for the next seven years (2023-2030). We have four primary goals:

• high-quality care for all,
• being a great place to work,
• partnerships for impact, and
• research and education excellence
And we will embed health equality in all we do - taking active steps to reduce the avoidable differences in healthcare that some people face, working in partnership with communities. Our strategy is underpinned by new values and we will work to ensure they are an everyday reality for all:
• we are compassionate,
• we are proud,
• we are inclusive, and
• we are one team
This is an exciting moment as we look to the future with clarity on what we already do well and where we need to focus our energies to make an even bigger difference for the people we serve.