Job summary
The Adult Community Speech & Language Therapy Team have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and experienced band 6 Therapist to join our friendly and supportive team in a permanent position, based in beautiful South Devon, with easy access to beautiful beaches and moors. The position is part-time, 30 hours/wk.

We are an innovative and motivated team within a supportive and collaborative environment that offers:

• An opportunity to work with a varied caseload, including Parkinson's Disease, dementia, stroke and MND.
• Access to instrumental swallowing assessment - in particular our well-developed Fees service.
• 1:1 regular management supervision.
• Access to clinical supervision 1:1 and in peer groups.
• Joint working and second opinions with our clinical specialists.
• Regular opportunities for CPD
• A car owner/driver and current driving licence is essential or full access to a car for work purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005).

Main duties of the job
To be responsible for triaging referrals to the Speech and Language Therapy Community Adult service alongside SLT colleagues

To independently manage a caseload of community patients with highly complex speech, language, communication and swallowing (dysphagia) difficulties with reference to theory, published research and evidence, and agreed best practice

To prioritise and respond to referrals, allocating to less experienced colleagues and exercising professional judgement based on extended clinical experience

Provide a service as appropriate to hospitals, nursing, residential homes and patients own homes, using own car to travel between relevant locations for clinic visits, meetings etc.

To function as part of a multi-disciplinary team including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social services personnel, social care, and dietitians

Weekend working and home working may be required in order to provide a service model that meets future requirements

About us
Why Work With Us

We are a small, friendly team of dynamic and enthusiastic therapists and support workers.

We work as part of an integrated care organisation, the first in the UK, serving rural and urban communities in South Devon. The demography has a high elderly population

We provide well led acute, community and specialist services, to people from the local area, and were one of the first to run therapist led FEES clinics in the UK

Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education and support for our clinicians

Please note: Priority will be given to applicants with recognised 'Priority' or 'At Risk' status, including NHS staff identified across Devon.

Details
Date posted: 10 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year pa pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 388-8146402-FC&I
Job locations: Ashburton Health 7 Well-Being Centre, 9-15 Eastern Road, Ashburton, TQ13 7AP, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
To be responsible for ensuring patients safety with regard to eating and drinking by assessing, monitoring and updating, and communicating details of safe practice to the patient, medical and ward staff, and carers, ensuring that recommendations are clearly documented

To make judgements about when to refer patients for instrumental examination of the swallow considering the risks and benefits of the procedure. To participate in clinical discussion with the Clinical Lead for Dysphagia and to jointly interpret results in order to plan appropriate SLT treatment

To prioritise and decide on appropriate highly specialised treatment programmes individual or group, matched to individual patient/family need and to adapt and modify management options based on extended and developing clinical expertise whilst ensuring patient/carers/multi-disciplinary team are fully involved in the decision-making process

To assess the need for alternative and augmentative means of communication and to create personalised low- tech communication systems such as communication booklets and charts, and train and support patients and carers in their effective use

To identify where high -tech electronic communication systems are required to meet patient needs working in collaboration with the AAC Specialist SLT

To use highly developed communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, and reassurance when explaining highly complex and sensitive information to the full range of levels in understanding of patients and carers, where anxiety frequently acts as a barrier and co-operation is not guaranteed

To demonstrate empathy and reassurance when providing patients and carers with unwelcome information that has long-term implications for lifestyle and employment e.g. when communication skills will not be recovered and/or oral feeding is no longer an option. To provide counselling and support before onward referral for more formal consultations if judged necessary

To monitor, recognise, assess and evaluate subtle changes in patients conditions and adapt assessment and treatment programmes accordingly based on extended clinical experience, including in palliative care

To assess the risk to, and vulnerability of, patients and families in relation to timing and manner of treatment and amount of information provided, i.e. where inappropriate intervention could have a negative effect

Person Specification
Qualifications and training
Essential

• Degree or equivalent in speech and language therapy
• HCPC Registration
• RCSLT Registration
• Post-graduate qualification in dysphagia management or sign off of all dysphagia competencies at foundation level
• Evidence of on-going education and professional development

Desirable

• Membership of relevant Clinical Excellence Network
• Advanced Clinical Educator

Knowledge and Experience
Essential

• Specialist knowledge of aphasia and dysarthria assessment, diagnosis and management
• Experience of the assessment, diagnosis and management of clients with cognitive-communication disorder
• Experience of the assessment and management of clients with progressive neurological conditions
• Demonstrate an understanding of multi disciplinary team working and individual roles
• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to communicate highly complex information to meet a range of levels of in understanding of clients and carers
• Ability to negotiate and explain complex case related information about speech & language development and disorders to a range of audiences
• Independent clinical management of complex caseload with access to regular support from senior staff
• able to undertake and adapt wide range of formal and informal assessments to meet patient need based on extended clinical experience beyond graduate level
• able to identify, collect, analyse, and interpret complex case related information
• able to make a differential diagnosis on the basis of assimilated evidence from assessments - some of which may be conflicting
• commitment to evidence based practice
• able to recognise own clinical competencies and the need for onward referral for more specialist advice
• Ability to reflect on practice to identify own strengths and development needs
• Able to demonstrate effective team working
• Highly developed IT skills to support use of high-tech communication aids
• Recent post graduate experience in adult neurological rehabilitation

Desirable

• Experience in applying research to practice
• Leadership qualities
• Innovative
• able to implement and adapt specialised treatment programmes from a range of options based on extended clinical experience
• Knowledge and experience of clinical governance
• Additional experience in other fields of adult SLT
• Experience managing tracheotomised clients
• Experience of working with an adult neuro caseload in a community setting
• Supervision of SLT assistants and less experienced therapists
• Experience of waiting list management
• Experience of working with staff from other agencies
• Experienced clinical educator of students
• Experience of audit projects
• Experience of teaching

Specific Skills
Essential

• Able to maintain sensitivity at all times to patients, carers and families, especially when imparting distressing information about the nature and implications of profound, long-term communication and swallowing disorders
• Able to recognise conflict between patients and their carers/relatives and facilitate resolution

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.

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: Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Ashburton Health 7 Well-Being Centre, 9-15 Eastern Road, Ashburton, TQ13 7AP, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Head of Speech & Language Therapy
Amanda Harris
amanda.harris32@nhs.net
07919547361

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.