Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) to join our dynamic SLT team based at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London, situated in beautiful surroundings close to St. Paul’s Cathedral. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is a leading UK tertiary cancer centre combining compassionate care with world class expertise.

This exciting opportunity is part of the Barts Cancer Centre, which is a national centre of excellence for myeloma and a Tessa Jowell accredited centre of excellence for neuro-oncology. You will be responsible for leading and developing the SLT service for cancer patients, excluding those with head and neck cancer, and leading initiatives that enhance the provision for those with complex communication and swallowing difficulties across the cancer care pathway, including outpatient clinics. You will also collaborate with SLT colleagues at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital who support the critical care units and cardiothoracic pathways in the world-leading Barts Heart Centre and the respiratory care pathway. The therapies department and division is committed to quality improvement, research and development and providing continuous professional development opportunities for its staff.

For more information, please contact Frah Abdullahi, Clinical Lead SLT, on [email protected].

The position includes specialist assessment and treatment of adults with complex acquired communication and swallowing difficulties, including managing tracheostomies and conducting instrumental swallow assessments such as videofluoroscopy or Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), across a wide range of cancer diagnoses. This includes both solid tumour cancers and haematological cancers, but not head and neck cancers.

Additionally, the post holder will lead and support the delivery of training for SLT colleagues and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), focusing on evidence-based practices and the importance of SLT in cancer care. They will monitor and maintain high standards within the cancer care pathway, implement policy changes when needed, and contribute to the development and expansion of services alongside Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, and other SLT colleagues across the Trust at the Royal London Hospital (RLH), Whipps Cross Hospital (WXH) and Newham Hospital (NUH) as well as the community teams in Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Frah Abdullahi Job title: Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist Email address: [email protected]