Job summary
This post is an excellent opportunity for a therapist who is experienced in supporting children of all ages with Eating, Drinking and Swallowing (EDS) difficulties and for working with the 3 counties team to develop EDS and Complex Needs competencies across the service in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
You will be part of a 3 counties team of SLTs who provide leadership across all areas of Complex Needs including EDS. Your main area of leadership will be within the area of EDS and complex needs in Pembrokeshire, you will also lead and mentor a small team of therapists in Portfield Special School within a well established Multidisciplinary setting. There are also leadership opportunities available in Pembrokeshire to lead staff who support children with complex needs in mainstream settings.
Within the Hywel Dda area, we implement Malcomess Care Aims and are keen to use outcome measures to demonstrate that our service is effective and has a positive impact upon our client group.
Your base will be in Pembrokeshire, we are a very supportive team who values staff wellbeing and also encourages the team to develop their clinical and leadership skills by offering robust clinical and managerial support for projects and developments that nurture robust and effective service provision.
Main duties of the job
You need excellent inter personal skills in order to be able to influence and lead teams with the implementation of new packages of care which are based upon robust, evidence based practice as well as ensure that pilot programmes are well received and implemented with robust evaluation tools.
You will employ highly developed reflective practice skills and continuously seek to evaluate and update your clinical practice.
The role will be split between 1.5 days in Portfield Special School and 3.5 days in community settings/ providing leadership for EDS in the Pembrokeshire SLT service, advancing clinical practice in this area of work and taking a lead in evolving and embedding best practice into clinical practice.
You will provide highly specialist clinical support for children and young people with a range of highly complex health needs, EDS and learning difficulties in a variety of settings within your allocated locality.
You will independently provide highly specialist assessment, diagnosis and treatment for children and young people with complex needs, ensuring appropriate pathways of care are followed and referring/signposting to other agencies as required.
From time to time you may be required to work in Carmarthenshire and/or Ceredigion to support the complex needs teams in those counties according service demands.
You will have an excellent knowledge of the ALN act and processes and the decision making relating to ALP for children on your caseload.
About us
Hywel Dda University Health Board is the planner and provider of NHS healthcare services for people in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and its bordering counties. Our 12,000 members of staff provide primary, community, in-hospital, mental health and learning disabilities services for around 384,000 people across a quarter of the landmass of Wales. We do this in partnership with our three local authorities and public, private and third sector colleagues, including our volunteers, through:
Four main hospitals: Bronglais General in Aberystwyth, Glangwili General in Carmarthen, Prince Philip in Llanelli and Withybush General in Haverfordwest;
Seven community hospitals: Amman Valley and Llandovery in Carmarthenshire; Tregaron, Aberaeron and Cardigan in Ceredigion; and Tenby and South Pembrokeshire Hospital Health and Social Care Resource Centre in Pembrokeshire;
48 general practices (six of which are managed practices), 47 dental practices (including three orthodontic), 99 community pharmacies, 44 general ophthalmic practices (43 providing Eye Health Examination Wales and 34 low vision services) and 17 domiciliary only providers and 11 health centres;
Numerous locations providing mental health and learning disabilities services;
Highly specialised and tertiary services commissioned by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, a joint committee representing seven health boards across Wales.
Job description
Job responsibilities
From time to time you may be required to work in Carmarthenshire and/or Ceredigion to support the complex needs teams in those counties according service demands.
You will have an excellent knowledge of the ALN act and processes and the decision making relating to ALP for children on your caseload.
You will be able to find a full job description and person specification attached within the supporting documents.
The Health Board is committed to supporting its staff to fully embrace the need for bilingualism thereby enhancing patient and service user experiences. In our commitment to increase the number of staff who are able to communicate in Welsh with patients and professionals, we welcome applications from Welsh speakers.
The ability to communicate in Welsh is desirable for this post. If you do not meet the Welsh Language requirements specified, the Health Board offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal desirable requirements during the course of your employment with us.
Interviews will be held on 20/06/2024
Person Specification
Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential
- Degree in Speech & Language Therapy
- Evidence of successful completion of training/specialist short courses up to Masters Degree or equivalent level, and relevant to area of clinical expertise
- Understanding of implications of bilingualism on language use and development
- Knowledge of a wide range of paediatric or adult specialist assessment tools and procedures to evaluate communication skills, particularly relevant to area of clinical expertise
- Knowledge of key characteristics leading to a specialist differential diagnosis relevant to area of clinical expertise
- Knowledge of selecting, setting and evaluating specialist treatment goals
- Knowledge of a highly specialist range of therapeutic interventions relevant to specialist clinical area, and able to demonstrate the evidence base for these approaches
- Well established knowledge of legal and professional issues of confidentiality
- Knowledge of record keeping standards, data protection / Caldicott guidelines
- Knowledge of health and safety issues
- Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to area of clinical expertise
Desirable
- Basic Counselling
- Knowledge of a range of research approaches
- Understanding of principles of change management
- Accredited postbasic dysphagia training
Experience
Essential
- Extensive post registration clinical experience relevant to the post including: Experience of audit and service evaluation
- Delivering highly specialist training to a range of audiences
- SLT Student placement, inclusive of assessment up to and including final year
- Supporting less experienced staff
- Supervision of associate practitioners/support workers.
- Experience of providing second opinions to SLTs and other professionals
Desirable
- Management of change
- Demonstrable leadership experience
- Delivering therapy through the medium of Welsh
- Supervision/line management SLTs
language Skills
Desirable
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website .
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants .
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Address
Pembroke Dock Health Care Centre (To be negotiated)
Water Street
Pembroke Dock
SA72 6DW