As a Locum speech and language therapist (SLT), you'll treat patients with varying levels of speech, language and communication problems, or difficulties in swallowing, drinking or eating.

You could deal with a diverse client group, including people with physical and learning disabilities, hearing loss/deafness, psychiatric disorders or dementia, and could treat a range of conditions, including cleft palate, stammering, language delay and voice disorders.

you'll typically need to:

• Identify the speech and communication difficulty or disorder
• assess the cause and nature of the problem, for example, congenital problems (such as cleft palate) or acquired disorders after a stroke or injury
• devise and deliver a suitable treatment programme, working on a one-to-one basis or in groups, to enable each of your clients to improve as much as possible
• review and revise the programme as appropriate
• advise carers on implementing a treatment programme and train other professionals in therapy delivery
• monitor and evaluate your clients' progress
• write confidential client case notes and reports, as well as information for clients, carers and other professionals
• manage a caseload while taking into account priority cases, waiting lists, successful outcomes, referral and discharge of service users
• work within a team to improve the effectiveness of service delivery.