Speech and Language Therapy Co-worker

This is a very rare and exciting opportunity to work for six months with Specialist Speech and Language Therapists (SaLT) across the Trust's Mental Health Inpatient Wards. SaLTs assess, diagnose and treat patients with speech, language and communication needs and swallowing impairments. You will work under the direction of the SaLTs to support identification of patients needing assessment and to help deliver the support and treatment they need. You will be expected to attend ward rounds to represent the SaLT service. You will need to develop a good working relationship with patients and ward staff including nurses, psychiatrists and other therapists. Previous experience working with people with mental illness or learning disabilities would be preferable.,

• To contribute to the delivery of high-quality assessment, diagnosis and intervention to patients and their carers including both communication and dysphagia/swallowing support and health improvement.
• To analyse the need for, develop and produce easy read/accessible information/visual supports appropriate to the individual service user's health and communication needs to improve their health and well-being.
• To represent the Speech and Language Therapy Service as required.
• To be involved in specialist multi-disciplinary assessment (including gathering and analysing case history information) and care packages.
• To identify, develop and deliver training packages appropriate to the audience need.
• To identify, develop and implement therapy resources and low-tech communication aids following clinical assessment, which involves making judgements about what is required, appropriate and achievable.
• To plan, organise and manage own workload to complete tasks in a timely manner.
• To use good word processing skills to create accessible information resources.
  
  Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for
people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
• We're Kind
• We're Fair
• We Listen
• We Care