Paediatric SLT Dysphagia Lead

As Clinical Lead for EDS, you will steer paediatric feeding and swallowing across Somerset, combining expert clinical practice with service development and mentorship. You will lead the EDS pathway, supervising SLTs and collaborating with health, education and social care colleagues to deliver family‑centred care. A portion of your time will involve neonatal support in the NICU, integrating transitional care into community services. This role offers opportunities to shape practice, drive innovation and advance leadership within a supportive team. You will contribute to strategic improvement while working across clinics, schools and home settings to improve outcomes for children aged 0–19.

• Flexible working options
• NHS pension scheme
• Generous annual leave
• Career development opportunities
• Blue Light Card discounts
• NHS-specific perks

• Provide expert clinical leadership and specialist advice for eating, drinking and swallowing in children and young people.
• Lead and supervise therapists within the EDS pathway to ensure evidence-based practice.
• Manage a complex specialist caseload with high-quality assessment, diagnosis and intervention.
• Collaborate with health, education and social care to deliver family-centred care.
• Drive service improvement, develop clinical pathways and contribute to policy and guideline development.
• Deliver training, mentoring and support to therapists, multidisciplinary colleagues and families.
• Provide specialist support to babies and families in the NICU and support transitions into community services.

• HCPC registration
• RCSLT membership
• Recognised degree in Speech and Language Therapy
• Post-graduate specialist training in eating, drinking and swallowing (EDS) to Master's level or equivalent
• Post-qualification training in paediatric SLT
• Strong leadership and supervisory experience
• Experience in service development
• Car driver or mobile with appropriate business insurance

• leadership
• supervision and mentoring
• collaboration across multidisciplinary teams
• expert paediatric SLT practice in feeding and swallowing
• management of complex clinical presentations
• development of clinical pathways and guidelines