Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Community SALT team to join our amazing team.

This role is suitable for both newly qualified therapists and for those who are looking to gain experience working in a community setting working with a wide variety of different clinical presentations.

We have lots of collective experience between us and have excellent liaison with the acute SALT team and Essex university and 3rd sector organisations.

Provisional interview date - 30th October 2026

Main duties of the job
You will be working in a range of settings including patient's own homes, nursing and residential homes and with inpatients at our Community Hospitals.

You will be very well supported with regular peer and personal supervision and there will be an expectation for you to complete your dysphagia and NQP competencies if this is needed.

About us
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Details
Date posted: 16 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year per annum pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 432-HR991-26
Closing date: 26 October 2026

Job responsibilities
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Please do make contact if you wish to ask any questions about the role in advance of your application.

It is anticipated that this post will also become permanent once we have approved recurrent funding.

Person Specification
Qualifications

• Essential: Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree qualification or equivalent
• Essential: Eligible for registered membership of RCSLT
• Essential: Ability to travel to different places of work/driving licence.
• Essential: HCPC membership
• Desirable: Registered Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (R.C.S.L.T.)

Skills

• Essential: Ability to use Word, PowerPoint, e-mail, Excel and Access (or similar spreadsheet or database packages)

Experience

• Essential: Experience of working in various clinical settings.
• Essential: Portfolio of CPD evidence relevant to post.
• Essential: Assessment of communication impairments by various means, including a range of standardised assessments
• Essential: Differential diagnosis of patients with multiple aetiologies
• Essential: Liaising with other agencies/other staff groups
• Essential: Experience working as a member of a multidisciplinary team
• Essential: Recognition of requirement for and means of accessing guidance/support
• Desirable: Bedside assessment of dysphagia
• Desirable: Involvement in audit/clinical governance within SLT

Knowledge

• Essential: Knowledge of approaches to assessment and interventions for people with LTC and prog neuro
• Essential: Knowledge of evidence based practice in relation to the client group.
• Essential: Knowledge of normal and abnormal swallowing
• Essential: Knowledge of environmental impact on communication and behaviours
• Essential: Assessment/knowledge of alternative/ augmentative communication systems
• Desirable: Awareness of change in NHS and current legislation

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).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Address: The Crescent, Colchester, CO4 9YQ, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.esneft.nhs.uk/

For questions about the job, contact: Ruth Myers, professional lead, ruth.myers@esneft.nhs.uk, 01206742560

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