Job Description

Band 3 Speech and Language Therapy Assistant



1.0 WTE Early Years Service and Camden Service for Young People



Camden Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service



We are looking for a creative, forward thinking, and dynamic Speech and Language Therapy Assistant to join our well established, innovative Speech and Language Therapy service in Camden.



The assistant will work across our Early Years and Young People's Service which includes work in health centres, secondary mainstream schools and college settings. Across the two teams, we work with children and young people aged 2-19 with a range of speech, language and communication needs.



This post involves supporting a Clinical Co-ordinator with the running of the team and supporting therapists with administration tasks and resource-making. You will will also be working with therapists in our clinical settings and supporting with the set-up and running of therapy groups and delivering therapeutic intervention, under Speech and Language Therapist's supervision. The post will comprise of an approximately equal split between clinical and administrative tasks.



The Service places a strong emphasis on personal and professional development. Camden is a central London borough that has a culturally and socially diverse population.



The successful applicant will need good communication skills including spoken and written English alongside well-developed IT skills.



We will provide supervision and support to the successful candidate.



MAIN DUTIES



To provide a warm and welcoming reception for all clients, their families and visiting professionals.



To provide a courteous and professional response to telephone and email enquiries from clients, carers and professionals providing non-clinical information



To provide a supportive and professional approach when working with children and young people, with the support and supervision of a Speech and Language Therapist



To carry out prescribed tasks to facilitate the communication skills of children, working under the supervision of a speech and language therapist.



Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.



MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES



Communication



To provide a warm and welcoming reception for all clients, their families and visiting professionals.



To provide a courteous and professional response to telephone and email enquiries from clients, carers and professionals providing non-clinical information whilst exercising judgement to ensure that all the relevant personnel are given the necessary information.

To take and distribute telephone messages.

To assist with the management of email correspondence to the service.

To assist with health and safety returns for office sites, ensuring all displayed information is kept up to date and toys are regularly cleaned.

To provide a warm and professional approach when visiting and working in our clinical settings and meeting other health professionals and education staff.

To provide a supportive and professional approach when working with children and young people, with the support and supervision of a Speech and Language Therapist.



Administration



To collect and distribute incoming and outgoing post and distribute reports via secure email to a range of parties.

To assist in the ordering of stationery and equipment, ensuring sufficient stock is maintained and to receipt deliveries of orders.

To manage room bookings

To maintain and update the current data bases

To assist in organising and sending appointment letters and text messages, appropriate questionnaires and information as required, liaising with the clients, families, referring agencies and Interpreting and Advocacy Service of Whittington Health and making bookings as necessary.

To manage confirmation of clinical appointments, rearrangements and discharges, as well as monitoring appointments that were not attended.

To scan and label consent forms, assessment forms and other relevant information for clinical appointments and to ensure accurate records are kept on file.



To maintain an ongoing audit of client experience of the service.

To assist managers in the collation and presentation of data as requested e.g. audit, service user feedback and presentations.

To disseminate teams invites and slides to support the training offer



Clinical



To carry out prescribed tasks to facilitate the communication skills of children, working under the supervision of a speech and language therapist.

To support therapist in the set-up and running of therapy groups and clinical therapeutic interventions.

To support therapists with communication assessments e.g., gathering case history information from parents, conducting an initial communication screen.

To prepare therapy materials.

To implement speech and language therapy packages of care based on goals set by the clinician.

To record client observations and session outcomes in the child's electronic record.



Electronic Record/SystmOne



To use the SystmOne to ensure that accurate patient information is recorded and up to date.

To assist in processing new referrals and book appointments on to SystmOne, under the supervision of a speech & language therapist

To scan and upload emails, reports and other relevant correspondence onto SystmOne.



General



To attend training including attendance at OCT (word, excel, SystmOne), mandatory and other training courses as required, including Child Protection and Information Governance.

To assist in training and integration of temporary and new permanent members of staff.



Any other reasonable duties as directed appropriate to grade.



Additional information



* To uphold and maintain patient confidentiality in line with national and Whittington Health Information Governance Policies.