Job summary
Senior Specialist Speech & Language Therapist - Adult Inpatients, Critical Care
Band 7 Full-time, permanent.

We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and experienced Speech and Language Therapists to join the acute in-patient service at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. You will be based at St Thomas' Hospital, delivering a senior specialist service to Critical Care.

You will have significant experience of working with adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders. You will be able to demonstrate competence in managing patients who are tracheostomy and ventilator dependent. You will have significant experience of managing dysphagia and participating in Videofluoroscopy and FEES.

There is a strong ethos of clinical support, supervision and development within the team. The service is able to offer you excellent supervision and peer support, with an emphasis on team working. Quality improvement projects and research ideas are strongly encouraged, both within SLT and in the multi-professional teams. We have regular team meetings, plus opportunities for continuing professional development through in-house training, clinical excellence networks and external courses.

For further information please contact Anjali Kharpal (Lead Speech and Language Therapist) on anjali.kharpal@nhs.net or 02071887798.

Main duties of the job

• To take independent clinical responsibility for the provision of a high-quality Speech and Language Therapy service to adult patients in critical care with patients who are tracheostomised and ventilated.
• To work as a core member of the critical care MDT
• To work within the wider team at St Thomas' providing supervision, leading videofloroscopy clinics / FEES and contribute to training.

The post holder will receive professional supervision from the Band 8a Critical Care Lead SLT.

About us
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals - Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield - as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and - as part of King's Health Partners - we are one of England's eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research's biomedical research centres, established with King's College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities.Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals joined Guy's and St Thomas' in February 2021 and is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe. We provide treatment for people with heart and lung disease, including rare and complex conditions, offering some of the most sophisticated treatment that is available anywhere in the world.

Our values help us to define and develop our culture, what we do and how we do it. It is important that we all understand and reflect these values in our work. We are:

Caring - we put patients first.
Ambitious - we innovate and strive for excellence.
Inclusive - we respect each other and work collaboratively.

Details
Date posted: 02 September 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £58,133 to £65,261 a year per annum inc. HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 196-LIS10785E
Job locations: St Thomas' Hospital, Wesrminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• To take autonomous responsibility for delivering a highly specialist service to adult inpatients referred from Critical Care areas with communication and/or swallowing disorders. This includes patients with tracheostomies and/or ventilator dependency.
• To assist with cross site working to cover the Guys Critical Care Unit when required.
• As a core member of the Multi-Disciplinary Team, to participate in team meetings, ward rounds and family meetings. Where appropriate to propose and assist in the implementation of policy/service development.
• To have specialist knowledge of complex conditions presenting in critical care, including neuromuscular diseases, and their impact on communication and swallowing. To offer support and second opinions to other members of the SLT team.
• To manage communication and swallowing disorders and assist in the respiratory weaning process.
• To recommend appropriate instrumental swallowing assessments, i.e. Videofluoroscopy and FEES when clinically indicated.
• To participate in the organisation and provision of training to nursing staff and MDT in the continued use of the Swallow screen and the management of communication and /or swallowing disorders with tracheostomised and/or ventilator dependant patients.
• To contribute to and develop innovations in areas of risk management, quality standards setting and clinical effectiveness as part of the departments clinical governance initiative. To contribute to Critical Care services systems of Clinical Governance as a Specialist resource in liaison with the Trust Head of Speech and Language Therapy
• To keep up-to-date with current theory and evidence-based practice in the field of acquired disorders of communication and swallowing with particular reference to neuromuscular, respiratory, ventilator and tracheostomy patients, videofluoroscopy and FEES.
• To develop and take the lead in departmental/multi-disciplinary audits including design, data collection, analysis and development of action plans as part of the Speech and Language Therapy Departments annual audit programme / Critical Care Multidisciplinary Team initiatives.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Recognised SLT qaulification and current HCPC reg
• Post-graduate experience in Critical Care

Desirable

• Completion of RCSLT tracheostomy competancies
• Completion of RCSLT ventilation competancies

Experience
Essential

• Significant specialist experience working with adults with acquired disorders of communication and swallowing including working at a specialist level with tracheostomy patients and ventilator dependant patients.
• Knowledge and experience in the use of instrumental assessment tools including flexible nasendoscopy
• Significant experience of performing, evaluating and reporting on videofluoroscopies independently.
• Experience of support and supervision of junior staff

Desirable

• Level 2b FEES competency or equivalent/ Lead VF clinician
• Active member of clinical education networks
• Post-qualification experience in adult dysphagia inc. RCSLT Level 1 FEES assessor OR scoping

Skills
Essential

• Good organisational ability, prioritisation and time management skills.
• Excellent training skills.
• Knowledge of methods to establish phonation in patients with tracheostomy on mechanical ventilation.

Desirable

• Completion of Practice Educator training and delivery of student placements

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.

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).

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