Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and innovative Specialist Speech & Language Therapist (SLT) to join the Specialist Learning Disability Service (SLDS) based in Hertfordshire. The successful candidate will work as an influential and integral member of a diverse multi-disciplinary team working throughout Hertfordshire, across a range of settings. You will be forward thinking and able to demonstrate clinical knowledge in the area of adult learning disabilities based on current evidence. You will autonomously undertake specialist assessments and interventions with individuals with communication difficulties and dysphagia. The person successful in their application will be an essential member of the MDT, working alongside Psychiatry, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Arts Therapies, Physiotherapy and Social Care colleagues to support our service users achieve their goals. The post offers good links with SLT colleagues throughout HPFT services, with regular supervision, opportunities for CPD and training. There is a strong ethos of Continuous Quality Improvement throughout the service and the Trust as a whole, creating possibilities for developing and extending knowledge and skills.,

• To provide high quality, comprehensive speech and language therapy assessment and intervention for adults with learning disabilities
• To manage a caseload using evidence-based, person-centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in community settings
• To provide this service to those who present with communication difficulties and/or dysphagia
• To undertake supervision of junior staff and students as required
• To work as a member of the multidisciplinary team
  
  Degree in Speech and Language Therapy
• State registration with HCPC
• Member of the RCSLT
• Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
• Post graduate training in Dysphagia, Specialist knowledge and application of speech and language therapy assessments and interventions
• Detailed knowledge of evidence based practice and its contribution to practice governance
• Planning and coordination of treatment packages
Desirable criteria
• Supervision skills
• Experience of working within a learning disability setting
• Experience of managing a mixed (dysphagia and communication) caseload, Clear and effective communication through written, verbal and non-verbal modes
• Broad knowledge of current best practice in SLT and mental health
• Understanding of team dynamics
• Computer literacy / basic word processing
• Car driver
• Ability to manage own workload and determine priorities
• Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance
• Application of health, safety and risk management policies
• Working with service users with barriers to understanding, You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
  
  Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. As a trust we have achieved an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.
With a workforce of around 3,500 people, the Trust provides integrated health and social care services through a network of community and inpatient settings, serving diverse communities across Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk. As a university NHS foundation trust, HPFT continues to develop strong links with the University of Hertfordshire, providing excellent learning and development opportunities, as well as strengthening our clinical research capability. The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout., Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is rated by the Care Quality Commission as an Outstanding provider of mental health and learning disability services. In 2021, we won the prestigious Health Service Journal award for Mental Health Trust of the Year, with the judges saying they were "blown away" by our people's achievements and that everything they saw "sings and hums". This year, our staff rated us the 4^th best mental health and learning disability trust to work for out of all 52 trusts in the country. Our staff tell us that they are proud to be part of the HPFT team, proud of the standard of care we provide and proud that service users are our top priority. Our people tell us they feel supported though a great development, wellbeing and work-life balance offer and a highly compassionate, values-driven culture. We are equally proud of our staff, who live our values of being welcoming, kind, positive, respectful and professional