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Job summary

Main area
Head and Neck Oncology
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
196-LIS8375
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Guy's Hospital
Town
London
Salary
£42,471 - £50,364 per annum inc HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
01/05/2024 23:59
Interview date
07/05/2024

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 6

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 have an exciting opportunity for a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join our head and neck oncology team. We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Speech and Language Therapist with specialist skills in managing adults with acquired disorders of swallowing and communication secondary to head and neck cancer and its treatment.

You will be based at Guy’s Hospital, working within a team of specialist Speech and Language Therapists both in the acute service and with strong links to our dedicated multidisciplinary Community Head and Neck Cancer team.  

Main duties of the job

** Please see Job description for full details 

  • To provide a high quality specialist service to adult in-patients and out-patients referred mainly from the ENT, Oro-Maxillo-Facial Surgery and Oncology departments at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals with communication and/or swallowing disorders. This includes patients undergoing laryngectomy and surgical voice restoration, and other head and neck surgery/oncological treatment.

Working for our organisation

The Adult Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Department at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital consists of 26.2 WTE SLTs and 1.4 WTE SLT Assistants. We have considerable expertise within the team with members representing the profession on a number of regional and national groups as well as contributing to both local and national guidance and research.

The service is able to offer you excellent supervision and peer support, with an emphasis on team working.  Quality improvement projects and research ideas are strongly encouraged, both within SLT and in the multi-professional teams. We have regular team meetings, plus opportunities for continuing professional development through in-house training, clinical excellence networks and external courses.  

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

** Please see Job Description for full details

  • In collaboration with senior therapists based on the Guy’s site to provide independent, specialist clinical management of in-patients with disorders of swallowing and communication referred from ENT, Oro-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, and Oncology Departments.
  • To maintain close liaison with referring medical staff and nurse specialists to ensure optimum treatment and support for patients after laryngectomy/SVR and other head and neck surgery.
  • To utilise a high level of interpersonal skills in helping patients adapt to changed circumstances / disability.
  • To independently carry out and analyse videofluoroscopic examinations of swallow. To report findings to the MDT regarding implications for management, plus use findings to design specialised therapeutic programmes of care.
  • To participate in the Surgical Voice Restoration programme at Guy’s Hospital and to provide specialist training in SVR for nurses and junior doctors.

Person specification

Qualifications/Education/Registration

Essential criteria
  • Diploma/Degree leading to RCSLT licence to practice and registered member of HCPC
  • Post-graduate dysphagia training leading to independent practice
  • Membership of/ attendance at relevant Clinical Excellence Groups and evidence of CPD to a specialist level

Previous Experience

Essential criteria
  • Post graduate experience of working with adults with acquired dysphagia.
  • Demonstrable experience of working with a specialist caseload of patients with a diagnosis of head and neck cancer.
  • Participation in development and/or use of outcome measures, audit and/or quality improvement projects.
  • Experience of working as an integrated member of an MDT
  • Experience of supervising Students
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of FEES
  • Experience of working with patients with a tracheostomy and altered airways

Skills/Knowledge/Ability

Essential criteria
  • Able to demonstrate a high level of competence in dysphagia management
  • Able to demonstrate knowledge of SVR management including awareness of risk management
  • Able to demonstrate ability to carry out and interpret video-fluoroscopy
Desirable criteria
  • Independent management of patients with SVR

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Natasha O'Neill
Job title
Clinical Lead SLT - Head and Neck Oncology
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
02071886233
Additional information

Jane Dunton - Senior Specialist SLT (Head and Neck Oncology) 

[email protected]   02071886233

 

 

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