Consultant Therapist, Speech & Language

Role Overview

As a Speech and Language Therapist in our hospital-based service, you will carry a mixed caseload spanning communication, eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties, working with clients from infancy through older adulthood. The post sits at the centre of a multidisciplinary team, so much of the working week involves coordinating with medical, nursing, dietetic and rehabilitation colleagues to keep patient goals moving from admission through to community follow-up. You will also hold a defined clinical lead role for our stroke programme and share responsibility for running a videofluoroscopy service that clinicians across the hospital can refer into easily and book without delay.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess, diagnose, manage and treat clients of all ages presenting with communication and/or eating, drinking and swallowing disorders, adapting your approach to each person's age, condition and background.
• Plan and deliver both one-to-one and group therapy, agreeing SMART goals jointly with the patient and their carer and making sure everyone understands what those goals are and how they will be reached.
• Work closely with the wider multidisciplinary team so that patient goals are addressed across every relevant area and within an appropriate timeframe, and that the team functions smoothly as a unit.
• Support continuity of care by helping patients move seamlessly between inpatient, outpatient and community settings.
• Liaise with the Radiology department to schedule regular videofluoroscopy clinics, run the assessment sessions, and produce timely reports jointly with the Radiologist; keep building your own skills in running the service and interpreting studies.
• Contribute to the growth of dysphagia practice across the service, including delivering training and guidance to other professionals.
• Take clinical responsibility for the stroke care programme: follow the stroke pathway, policies and procedures, and collect and maintain the data associated with it.
• Supervise and support colleagues and learners — including Speech and Language Therapists, students, therapy assistants and newly qualified staff — arranging student supervision where needed, providing leave cover for other therapists, and referring between colleagues so clients always receive the right level of treatment.
• Take ownership of your own continuing professional development, along with any other duties assigned by your supervisor.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Speech and Language Therapy, Speech Pathology, or an equivalent qualification.
• Valid professional registration or licensure where applicable.
• Minimum of one year of clinical experience in a hospital or rehabilitation setting.
• Training and hands-on experience in dysphagia assessment and management.
• Experience in one or more of the following: acute care, intensive care, stroke rehabilitation, paediatrics, or neurorehabilitation.
• Certification in a specialised area of speech therapy is an advantage.
• Knowledge of, and ability to use, sign language is an added advantage.
• Current Basic Life Support certification.
• Strong customer service skills, with the interpersonal and culturally appropriate communication style needed to work sensitively with clients from a range of backgrounds.
• Fluency in more than one language, ideally including Kiswahili, Somali, Gujarati or another Kenyan language.
• A reflective approach to practice, and a genuine interest in the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of therapy for clients.
• Solid organisational and time management skills, with the flexibility to accommodate patients as their needs change.
• Creativity, a willingness to innovate, and the stamina and tenacity to sustain a demanding caseload.

Why Join Us

• Defined supervision and mentoring structures, with the chance to supervise students and support newly qualified therapists as they develop.
• Real scope to deepen a dysphagia specialism, from running and interpreting videofluoroscopy studies to training other professionals.
• Active encouragement of continuing professional development, with the expectation that you keep growing your own clinical skills.
• Recognition of your own continuing professional development and the chance to shape how speech and language therapy is delivered for stroke patients across the service.
• A collaborative therapy team where leave cover and cross-referral between therapists are planned together, so clients get optimum quality of care and colleagues support one another.