Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

As a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) you will be responsible for the provision of a qualified SALT Autism assessment service for preschool and primary school aged children referred to the Community Paediatric team and the preschool ASD Pathway multiagency assessment service at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The team offers a dedicated service for children and young people referred with Neurodevelopmental difficulties in line with NICE guidance and NHS England standards; delivering timely assessment and evidence-based treatments. You will contribute and commit to promoting a positive team-based attitude, striving for the highest standards of care and achieving excellence in order to deliver effective ASD services in an integrated model with key partner agencies.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and dynamic Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapists to take on a specialist role within our Cheshire West CAMHS Autism Team in Chester.

The post holder will be required to undertake Autism assessments for children and young people. The CAMHS Autism team works within the multi agency school aged Autism pathway in West Cheshire.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.


• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.


• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.


The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.