DBTH Opportunities: Children’s Speech & Language Therapist – Autism Diagnostics

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

• To act as a source of clinical knowledge within the team to less experienced staff.
• To promote clinical excellence through his/her practice within the team
• Work collaboratively in the multidisciplinary team to plan treatment and care of individual patients.
• Work in collaboration with other health care professionals within the wider health community to drive the excellence in clinical care and service improvement within the speciality.
• To act as a resource for patients assessing their individual needs and observing the principles of holistic care when planning treatments that are sensitive to the ethnic, cultural and spiritual needs of the patient.
• Proactively contribute to the achievement of standards/ compliance of targets within their speciality.
• Provide experienced advice and support to patients and carers from diagnosis and throughout the patient pathway. Liaising with the multidisciplinary team to provide a high standard of care
• Enable and empower patients to make informed decisions regarding treatment options through the provision of expert knowledge and utilisation of relevant resources
• Will participate in service reviews
• Provide prompt clinical advice to all health professionals, using personal clinical knowledge to positively influence care delivery to patients
• Provide appropriate information and education to patients and their relatives and contribution to the development and production of information for patients
• Proactively supports patients and carers in coming to terms with their condition, providing ongoing support, encouraging them to promote health and wellbeing
• Provide symptom advice to patients & health professionals in the management of patients
• Assist in the formulation clinical guidelines and protocols actively involving other members of the MDT, patients, carers, community colleagues
• Establish and sustain excellent communication links with primary care and other healthcare providers including colleagues in the voluntary sector
• Demonstrate effective use of counselling skills when dealing with patients who are psychologically distressed i.e. having received bad news
• Provide support to patients receiving significant news and refer to appropriate support agencies as relevant.
• Participate in all aspects of research, clinical audit and service evaluation and through evidence-based practice, demonstrate clinical excellence with measurable standards and outcomes aiming to improve care and quality of life
• Proactively demonstrate engagement in research
• The post holder will have a portfolio of relevant up to date evidence of clinical practice within his/her specialist field
• Use clinical supervision and peer group support to underpin personal professional development
• Take responsibility for driving personal annual appraisal process
• To hold responsibility for managing own caseload within an agreed defined area.
• To assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapy intervention to meet the assessed needs of patients.
• To ensure assessment / treatment is carried out in the most appropriate environment.
• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work and support junior staff to do the same.
• To provide advice to colleagues with regard to the Therapy management of patients with complex needs.
• To complete a range of written reports as appropriate.

Management/ Organisational

• To contribute to service developments through the use of peer review, audit, evaluation of outcome measures etc.
• May manage service or have day to day supervision, professional clinical supervision and allocate work to less experienced staff/support staff and students
• To help facilitate changes/improvements to the service as required.
• To help facilitate service developments/ changes within the clinical pathway in conjunction with other professionals/agencies and more experienced clinicians.
• Ensure the provision of a high standard of service, delivered within local and national guidelines and within the resources available.
• To help in the implementation of appropriate new evidence based techniques and activities.
• Acting as a role model, employ professional behaviour that encourages and coaches their peers to challenge their current competencies, whilst seeking opportunities to enhance their roles.
• To liaise with and provide regular feedback to their line manager on clinical issues e.g. resources, waiting times, outcome monitoring targets.
• To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication skills to communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• To maintain robust communication networks with other agencies and professions. This may include attending meetings, case discussions etc.
• To participate in and contribute to a range of meetings/forums as required.
• To actively seek the views of patients and carers on patient experience provided. Taking action to make improvements where indicated.
• Proactively engage and implement any recommendations from findings of patient and carer surveys and national reports linked to clinical care and patient safety.
• Actively encourage staff to take part in staff surveys. Proactively engage and undertake any recommendations from findings of staff surveys

Education and Development

Has a key role in promoting a learning environment. This includes:

• regular clinical supervision and providing advice to members of the team
• induction of new staff into the Team, as and when is appropriate
• contributing to the development and delivery of educational programmes using a variety of media for relevant staff.
• the involvement in the on-going professional development of Therapy staff and other staff/students from other professions as required.
• providing supervision for and assessment of Therapy students on placement including the provision of written assessments.
• being responsible for own Continuing Professional Development to ensure professional competence and fitness to practice.
• To demonstrate evidence of completion of training as per Statutory and Essential Training (SET) Matrix
• demonstrating CPD through participation in internal and external training opportunities as appropriate.
• maintaining a Personal Professional Portfolio.