Speech and Language Therapy Support Worker

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Job Overview

Are you keen to make a difference to patients? Are you enthusiastic, motivated and keen to help patients achieve their goals with communication and/or eating and drinking, following head injury or other neurological conditions? If so, this might be the post for you. We offer fantastic opportunities to work in a like-minded rehab team, providing personalised care to patients whilst making the most of the training and development opportunities available to you.

Our Speech and Language Therapy Support Worker post is four days a week and based on the neuro wards at Southmead Hospital with the Acute inpatient Speech and Language Therapy Team (Core Clinical Services).

Main duties of the job

An SLT Support Worker is a member of the direct care team who supports registered SLTs to meet patient needs. The SLT Support Worker provides assistance and therapy to patients as delegated by the registered practitioner and directed by the appropriate team leader.

An SLT Support Worker will be expected to undertake a range of duties under the direction of and will be required to report back on those delegated duties to an SLT.

The SLT Support Worker will be competent to provide compassionate assistance and therapy to agreed quality standards. The SLT Support Worker will be supported and expected to acquire and develop skills appropriate to this post.

This post is based within the inpatient SLT team and would include the following: carrying out speech and language therapy related activities with the patients, family and staff (eg delivering therapy tasks, checking patient notes for information); assisting with administrative tasks (eg scanning, photocopying and data entry); producing, providing and maintaining equipment and communication aids.

The SLT Support Worker will have an assigned supervisor to support them in this role

This role is based in the Hyper Acute Rehab Team (HART) working with inpatients with complex rehabilitation needs following head injury and other neurological conditions.

Working for our organisation

NBT Cares. It’s a very simple statement; one which epitomises how everybody across our organisation goes the extra mile to ensure our patients get the best possible care.

Cares Stands For Caring, Ambitious, Respectful And Supportive

• Caring – because it underpins everything we do for our patients and the way we care for one another
• Ambitious – because it signals that we always want to improve what we do on behalf of our patients and one another
• Respectful – because every individual has an important role to play
• Supportive – because we’re a team and deliver together
  
  

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• Practice safe standards of assistance and therapy to patients following NBT protocols/policies and within the scope of the SLT Support Worker role.
• Participate in patient assessment (under the direction of and after appropriate delegation from the SLT), to deliver high standards of care.
• Practice appropriate competencies as identified by the SLT department.
• Follow individual treatment plans and report any changes immediately to the SLT.
• Work effectively as part of a team.
• Actively promote and enable timely discharge under guidance of the SLT and the wider multi-disciplinary team.
• Help individuals to maintain swallow and communication function and participate in rehabilitation programmes where appropriate.
• Maintain effective communication with patients, relatives and members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding all aspects of care demonstrating a range of appropriate communication skills.
• Maintain clear concise patient records and documentation adhering to national standards and trust policies and procedures.
  
  

Person specification

Education, Training And Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Apprenticeship in Health Level 3 or equivalent work based experience
• Numeracy and Literacy Level 2 or equivalent
  
  

Work experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working as a member of a team
• Experience of time management skills and prioritising work
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in a health or social care setting
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, Experience

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal
• Able to demonstrate an awareness of health care work and policies and procedures
• Committed to providing high quality patient care
• Able to adapt quickly to changing situations
• Enthusiasm and commitment to working within health care setting
• Able to meet the physical and educational demands of the role
  
  

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.