Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

The NELFT Children’s Feeding and Dietetic service includes the feeding team. The team includes a range of different professions - Dietitian, Occupational Therapist , Speech and Language Therapist and Specialist Children’s Nursing along with both team assistant and administrator support.

Due to staff relocation, the feeding team is seeking to recruit a part time, experienced dysphagia speech therapist to join the team and our other Speech and Language Therapist, to support children (0-19) with physical feeding difficulties. 

There are opportunities for remote/ flexible working within NELFTs commitment to staff wellbeing and agile working. The all the team members are co-located in the same office which helps support successful collaborative team working. 

Whilst the service hope is is to recruit a therapist experienced in managing both over and under one’s. We recognise that many experienced therapists may not have completed their under 1 competencies. Support and training can be offered to help develop under 1 skills for the right applicant.

Main duties of the job

The feeding team is community based (Wickford, Essex) and supports children living in Basildon, Brentwood and Thurrock within the larger Mid and South Essex ICS. The feeding team has strong links to both the local acute, surrounding community and tertiary teams. 

We offer families support at home, in education settings or in community clinics (face to face / virtually) and target our resources to meet the needs of the individual. 

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High Cost Area Supplement - Fringe

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £1,258 to a maximum of £2,122 pro rata for part time).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Assessment:

Assessment of swallowing function for solids and liquids Identify swallowing impairment and potential impact Assessment of oral skills whilst eating and drinking Assessment of parent child interaction and child response to feeding Supporting and recommending onward referrals for instrumental assessment and / or Services ( ENT or Tertiary SLT for VFSS)

 Intervention:

Manage eating risk by texture modification Manage drinking risk by fluid consistency modification Strategies to develop safe eating and drinking skills Management of Risk Feeding. Interpretation of Video fluoroscopy reports.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.

Use of AI

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent, fully registered with the appropriate professional or regulatory body (HCPC). Registration and membership with the appropriate professional and regulatory body Post graduate training in dysphagia (Paediatrics) Competencies in working with patients with neurological conditions

Experience

Essential criteria

Significant relevant experience at undergraduate/post graduate level Experience of clinically supervising and managing less experienced colleagues Experience of working in a multi-agency and/or multi-disciplinary team Experience of storing and maintaining electronic records Working in an NHS environment

Desirable criteria

Planning and delivery of training to other professionals

knowledge

Essential criteria

An awareness of NHS priorities Maintaining efficient administrative systems Clinical knowledge of paediatric feeding and swallowing difficulties associated with medical conditions and developmental needs Knowledge of assessment tools, treatment techniques and therapeutic interventions Awareness of the roles of other professionals and working as a multidisciplinary team In depth knowledge of safeguarding children and looked after children.

Desirable criteria

Awareness of Government policy and legislation and how this may affect service delivery

Skills

Essential criteria

Basic awareness of IT and IT skills Ability to apply continued professional development to practice Able to construct clear care plans for complex cases based on analysis of information from assessment, theoretical knowledge and clinical benchmarking to make highly specialist clinical decisions Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy ensuring that effective communication is achieved Negotiation, problem solving concentration, analytical and reflection skills

Desirable criteria

Written and verbal presentation skills

other

Essential criteria

To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.