Dysphagia Lead Speech and Language TherapistNHS

Job summary

Are you an experienced Speech and Language Therapist with a passion for dysphagia and a desire to shape and develop excellent services?

We have an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled and enthusiastic SLT to join our friendly team as a dysphagia lead at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

This is an opportunity to combine highly specialist clinical practice with clinical leadership, education, quality improvement and service development. You will have the opportunity to influence dysphagia care across the Trust, supporting colleagues and multidisciplinary teams to deliver safe, evidence based and person centred care.

As our dysphagia lead, you will provide Trust wide clinical experience and specialist expertise for adults with complex swallowing difficulties.

Instrumental assessment is an important part of the role, and you will have opportunities to support the FEES and VF services. You will also provide specialist input for patients with tracheostomies. Training and support can be given in these areas if needed.

Alongside your clinical work you will have the opportunity to make a real difference to how dysphagia care develops across our hospitals. You will lead and contribute to clinical pathways, guidelines, competency frameworks, audit, quality improvement and dysphagia related education and training.

We are looking for an experienced SLT who can bring enthusiasm, clinical expertise and leadership to this role.

Main duties of the job

1. To provide Trust-wide clinical leadership and highly specialist expertise in the assessment and management of adults with complex dysphagia, acting as an autonomous practitioner and expert clinical resource.

2. To lead the development, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement of safe, effective and evidence-based dysphagia practice across Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

3. To provide highly specialist instrumental assessment of swallowing, including Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and videofluoroscopy, interpreting complex findings and formulating appropriate management recommendations.

4. To provide expert assessment and management for patients with complex dysphagia, including patients with tracheostomies and those receiving critical care.

5. To provide specialist clinical advice, second opinions, supervision and competency support to Speech and Language Therapists working with dysphagia.

6. To lead dysphagia-related clinical governance, audit, quality improvement, policy and pathway development, supporting the identification, escalation and reduction of clinical risk.

7. To lead and coordinate dysphagia education and training for relevant staff across the Trust.

8. To work collaboratively with patients, carers and the multidisciplinary team, influencing complex clinical decision-making and supporting safe transfer of care for patients with ongoing dysphagia needs.

Job description

Clinical

1. Work as an experienced autonomous practitioner, professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own practice and for maintaining a high standard of patient-centred care.

2. Undertake comprehensive specialist assessment, differential diagnosis and management of patients with complex dysphagia, integrating clinical history, examination findings, instrumental assessment and relevant medical information.

3. Analyse and interpret highly complex and sometimes conflicting clinical information to formulate individualised management plans, including recommendations regarding oral intake, rehabilitation, compensatory strategies and onward referral.

4. Undertake FEES and videofluoroscopy within own scope of competence (training and support can be given if needed), contributing to diagnosis, treatment planning and review, and supporting safe governance of instrumental swallowing assessment.

5. Provide highly specialist dysphagia assessment and management for patients with tracheostomies and patients in critical care, working closely with the multidisciplinary team.

6. Provide expert clinical advice and second opinions for complex, high-risk or unusual dysphagia presentations and support appropriate escalation where clinical risk is identified.

7. Assess capacity and obtain valid informed consent in accordance with relevant legislation and Trust policy, contributing to best-interest and risk-management discussions where appropriate.

8. Communicate complex and sensitive information regarding swallowing, aspiration risk, nutrition and hydration and management options to patients, relatives, carers and professionals, including situations where there are barriers to understanding or differing views.

9. Work collaboratively with ward and community teams to support safe transfer of care, ensuring clear communication of swallowing recommendations and onward referral where required.

Clinical Leadership and Service Development

1. Act as the Trust clinical lead and expert resource for dysphagia, providing professional leadership and promoting consistently high standards of dysphagia care.

2. Lead the development, implementation and review of dysphagia pathways, clinical guidelines, standard operating procedures and competency frameworks in line with current evidence, professional guidance and Trust governance requirements.

3. Identify opportunities for service improvement and lead or contribute to quality improvement initiatives that improve patient safety, experience, outcomes, efficiency and equity of access.

4. Work collaboratively with the Operational Lead SLT and relevant team leads regarding service pressures, clinical priorities and dysphagia-related risks. Routine staffing, caseload allocation and cover arrangements remain the responsibility of operational/team leads.

5. Influence multidisciplinary practice and decision-making relating to dysphagia, including the management of complex clinical risk.

6. Support the development and evaluation of instrumental dysphagia services, including FEES and videofluoroscopy, promoting equitable and clinically appropriate access.

7. Maintain effective professional networks with relevant internal and external services, professional groups, universities and research networks.

Clinical Governance, Quality and Risk

1. Lead dysphagia-related clinical governance activity, including audit, service evaluation, quality improvement and the use of relevant outcome measures.

2. Monitor and evaluate the quality, safety and effectiveness of dysphagia practice and use data, feedback, incidents and audit findings to inform improvement.

3. Contribute specialist dysphagia expertise to the review and investigation of relevant incidents, complaints and clinical risks, identifying learning and supporting implementation of actions.

4. Promote evidence-based practice by critically appraising new evidence and national/professional guidance and translating relevant findings into local practice.

5. Ensure dysphagia-related policies, procedures and clinical resources are reviewed and updated appropriately.

6. Promote safe practice in relation to infection prevention and control, equipment, record keeping, information governance and risk management.

Education, Training and Clinical Supervision

1. Lead and coordinate a programme of dysphagia education and training for SLTs and relevant members of the wider multidisciplinary workforce across Trust sites.

2. Provide clinical supervision, specialist advice and competency support to SLTs developing or maintaining dysphagia skills.

3. Support competency development in specialist areas including instrumental assessment, tracheostomy and complex dysphagia where this falls within the post holder's scope of practice.

4. Contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate education, including supervision and teaching of Speech and Language Therapy students.

5. Support induction and development of new staff and contribute to multidisciplinary education relating to dysphagia.

6. Maintain own continuing professional development and specialist competencies, reflecting on practice and maintaining an evidence-based professional portfolio in accordance with HCPC and RCSLT requirements.

7. Participate in annual appraisal/PDR as an appraisee and, where formally delegated, contribute to PDR or development review processes for other staff.

Communication and Collaborative Working

1. Establish and maintain effective communication networks for dysphagia across the Trust and with relevant community and external services.

2. Communicate highly complex, sensitive or contentious information effectively, adapting communication to the needs of patients, carers and colleagues.

3. Work collaboratively with medical, nursing, dietetic, pharmacy, therapy, radiology, critical care and other colleagues to ensure coordinated multidisciplinary dysphagia care.

4. Promote awareness of the role and contribution of Speech and Language Therapy in dysphagia management and patient safety.

5. Build constructive relationships across professional and organisational boundaries and contribute specialist expertise to relevant meetings, working groups and service-development forums.

Organisation and Management

1. Prioritise and manage own specialist clinical workload effectively, responding appropriately to clinical urgency and risk.

2. Use resources responsibly and contribute to service planning by identifying dysphagia-related demand, capacity, risk and development needs.

3. Contribute to recruitment and selection where appropriate.

4. Contribute to the review of referral criteria and pathways for dysphagia services.

5. Collect and interpret relevant activity, outcome and quality data to support service evaluation, governance and planning.

6. This post provides clinical leadership for dysphagia. Routine line management, day-to-day staff deployment and operational cover arrangements are not inherent responsibilities of the role unless separately and explicitly delegated.

About us

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.