Overview
Band 7 Speech & Language Therapist – Dysphagia – North East Surrey
As a Band 7 Speech & Language Therapist for Dysphagia we value you and your wellbeing, offering a range of benefits to help you feel supported and appreciated:
- Competitive Pay & Pension: Enjoy a Band 7 Agenda for Change salary and NHS pension benefits.
- Professional Growth: Join our Strive for Better networks, connecting with NHS professionals nationwide to share insights and develop leading care practices.
- Exclusive Rewards: Access discounts and premium offers at national supermarkets, well-known retailers, and indulgent treats like Virgin Experience Days through our Reward Gateway.
- Wellbeing Support: Benefit from our 24/7 free wellbeing service, offering access to counselors, career coaching, legal advice, and more.
- Flexible Pay Options: Use Wagestream to track your earnings and access your wages as you need them, without worrying about high-interest loans or overdrafts.
- Learning & Development: Advance your career with support from our Learning and Development team, who collaborate with universities and Health Education England. Access e-learning, career pathways, and funding opportunities to help you grow.
- Recognition & Involvement: Celebrate achievements with local and national awards, contribute ideas to improve services, and stay informed through regular updates from our leadership team.
Job Introduction
Our Speech & Language Dysphagia Specialist role sits within the Paediatric Therapy Team, managing a complex caseload of children aged 0–5 with feeding, eating and swallowing difficulties.
You will provide specialist assessment, treatment and Surrey-wide expertise, including training, advice and supervision to colleagues and other professionals.
The role leads on evidence-based therapy planning, service delivery, clinical governance, research and audits, while supporting senior clinical leadership and deputising for the Clinical Team Lead
Main Responsibilities
- Provide support, advice and accessible care programmes to children and families regarding Dysphagia needs, using clear and appropriate language.
- Communicate complex and sensitive information with empathy, supporting families managing emotional responses to their child’s condition.
- Attend and arrange multidisciplinary meetings to offer specialist therapy advice and contribute to diagnosis.
- Maintain accurate electronic records and produce high‑quality clinical reports for use across agencies.
- Interpret assessment results, set therapy goals, and make referrals to other professionals when needed.
- Supervise and support students and junior team members, including contributing to training and induction.
- Plan and deliver parent/carer and staff training, presentations, and therapy development activities.
- Manage a clinical caseload, including triaging referrals, prioritising urgent cases, and balancing clinical and professional duties.
- Carry out specialist assessments, apply clinical reasoning, and ensure consent within legal frameworks.
- Develop, implement and review individual therapy plans using evidence‑based interventions, evaluating outcomes and adapting as needed.
- Engage with clinical interest groups, support placement decisions for children with complex needs, and help develop the Surrey‑wide SLT service.
- Participate in audits, performance reporting, recruitment processes, investigations and governance activities.
- Provide operational line management to designated team members and support overall team safety and clinical governance.
The Ideal Candidate
Essential
- Degree in Speech & Language Therapy (BSc Hons or equivalent) and HCPC registration.
- Dysphagia qualification with over 2 years’ Dysphagia experience, including working with children under 12 months.
- Minimum 5 years post‑graduate SLT experience with broad knowledge of best practice.
- Experience in relevant paediatric clinical areas and multidisciplinary team working.
- Competent in using standardised assessments with strong clinical reasoning skills.
- Evidence of ongoing CPD and participation in clinical audit.
- Experience of team management, appraisals, service development, safeguarding and complaint handling.
- Ability to deliver training to parents, staff and professionals.
- Strong planning, decision‑making and problem‑solving skills; able to work autonomously.
- Ability to reflect on and evaluate own practice.
- Computer literate.
Desirable
- Membership of relevant professional body and special interest groups.
- Postgraduate study up to Master’s level or specialist short courses linked to the role.
- Leadership or management qualification.
- Experience working with children in SLT or related areas.
- Training in supervision/line management and delivering specialist training.
Other requirements: the successful applicant will need to be a car driver
Please see attached Job Description for full Personal Specification.
About the Company
We change lives by transforming health and care.
Established in 2006, we are one of the UK’s leading independent providers of community health and care services, working with health and care commissioners and communities to transform services with a focus on experience, efficiency and improved outcomes. We deliver and transform adult and children community health services, primary care services including urgent care, sexual health, dermatology and MSK services as well as adult social care and wellbeing services. Across England, we support communities of many millions and directly help more than half a million people each year – guided by our simple values: we care, we think, we do.
We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from a broad, diverse range of people who want to join our team. We’re a Disability Confident Committed company, so we work to provide facilities, work environment adjustments and technical solutions to be as inclusive of everyone.
While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes a role is very popular, and we’ll need to close it earlier than the date we’ve shown here. If you’re keen to join our team, we’d love to hear from you so please apply as soon as you can.
As you’d expect, safeguarding and protecting the children, young people and vulnerable adults that we work with is of the utmost importance so we have policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices and everyone who joins the team is subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks.
Finally, we need to let you know that the company you’ll work for is part of HCRG Care Group Holdings Limited and by applying for this job we’ll need to process and hold information about you. If you would like to know a little more about how we use your information, please see our website’s privacy policy.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
