Speech and Language Therapist: Sponsorship Available

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Job Summary

Do you want to advocate for people with a learning disability to communicate and live well?

As a Speech and Language Therapist in the Community Learning Disability Team, you will use your clinical expertise and experience to support people with the most complex needs to live well with their learning disability. This is a Band 6 role, but it can be adapted to suit a more newly qualified Speech & Language Therapist at a Band 5, and preceptorship and appropriate training would be provided as required. You will provide specialist communication and dysphagia assessments and interventions for people referred to the service as well as being an integral member of a very friendly and supportive team of SaLT’s and wider multi-disciplinary team. You will have the autonomy to manage your own diary, and opportunities for hybrid working. This post is a full-time post.

Please contact either the Team Leader or the Principal Speech and Language Therapist if you would like to discuss the role further.

 

Main duties of the job

Contributing to the management of a team caseload of individuals with complex needs, you will assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions, which will be delivered in a variety of community settings. The team encourages multi-disciplinary working wherever possible and you will convene, facilitate, and contribute to meetings to develop a holistic understanding of the person and their needs.

  1. To manage a caseload of adults with learning disabilities who have complex communication difficulties and dysphagia / eating / drinking / swallowing difficulties.
  2. To promote and enable service user and carer involvement and choice in intervention options.
  3. To understand a clients’ learning capacity and to approach gaining informed consent in ways which demonstrate good practice and conform to Trust consent policies. To ensure that consent is approached within the legal framework for clients who may be deemed to lack capacity to consent to treatment.
  4. To undertake team Lead Practitioner role. This involves coordinating the care provided by the multidisciplinary team, organising and chairing meetings and updating clinical plans.
  5. To undertake comprehensive assessment of clients referred using investigative and analytic skills, to formulate an individualised management and treatment programme.
  6. To evaluate effectiveness of interventions using agreed outcome measures.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Recognised Speech & Language Therapy Degree or Masters qualification or equivalent
  • Health Professions Council – licence to practice
  • Registered member of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
  • Evidence of completion of specialist short courses related to learning disabilities
  • Post-basic qualification in dysphagia

Experience/Knowledge

Essential

  • Post graduate experience as a Speech & Language Therapist working in learning disabilities
  • Experience of training other professionals
  • Knowledge of assessment tools relevant to the client group
  • Knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions (relevant to client group).
  • Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance/audit.
  • Knowledge of record keeping standards
  • Ability to adapt written and verbal communication to suit the needs of people with communication and learning disabilities. This may include Makaton signing, symbols and pictures etc

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Closing Date: 16 April 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.