Frequently asked questions

Our service works with children and young people who have communication and swallowing difficulties (that affect eating and drinking). Currently, the service works on a referral, delivery of care packages and then discharge process.

After assessment, your speech and language therapist will discuss with you whether your child needs our service, and what type of episode of care they may need. For example, some children may need a short number of sessions to provide advice to parents and carers, whereas some children with more complex needs may need a longer episode of care. Your therapist can advise you on how much help your child needs, and this may change depending on your child’s progress. 

Therapy may help your child’s speech, language and/or eating and drinking skills.

Therapy intervention may include:

• Direct work between a child and Speech and Language Therapist; in school, at home or in a Health Care Centre. 
• A commitment from parents for work to be conducted at home.
• A programme of work for school or nursery to conduct.
• A recommendation for a training course to be attended by parents and carers and/or school.

For example, a child with severe pronunciation difficulties may receive support in a Health Care Centre and work for home and/or school to help develop their speech sounds and improve their speech clarity. 

Our service works in episodes of care, therefore the number of appointments your child receives will depend on their needs. For example, some children may be discharged after their initial assessment appointment, whereas some children with complex and severe needs may receive more appointments over a period of time.   

For your initial assessment appointment, your child will be seen at a Health Centre or be offered a virtual appointment. After this your child may be seen in the Health Centre, remotely via a computer link, their school or nursery or home depending on their needs. Your therapist will discuss with you where is the best location for your child to be seen.

For swallowing difficulties, children are seen in the best environment for a therapist to observe a child’s skills. This could be at home, in school or in a hospital. Your therapist will discuss this with you to help you decide. 

If you are worried about a child’s speech, language, communication or eating and drinking skills, then you can refer the child using our referral form. However, it is often helpful if you ask your child’s school, nursery or health visitor to do this on your behalf as they can provide valuable information about your child’s development that your therapist will need. Some referrals may not be accepted by our service if they do not meet our referral criteria or returned to the referrer if the form is not fully completed. 

Please see our referral section for more advice.

Your child will be discharged when they no longer require our service. The main reason for a child being discharged from are summarised below.

• Aims of intervention have been achieved. 
• The communication or swallowing issues are no longer a priority.
• The child or their carer or school staff are able to self manage the child’s difficulties.
• There is non-compliance with therapy.  
• Intervention is not indicated at the current time. 
• There has been non-attendance or repeated cancellation of appointments.
• The parent or carer requests discharge.
• The child is moving out of area and will be transferred to another service.
• The service does not offer intervention for children with this kind of difficulty.

Children can be referred again if they need further help. 

Please see referral section for more information.

Your therapist will usually give work and activities to complete at home on a regular basis. Speech and language therapy work is best done in short and regular sessions. Our service works by providing therapy support and guidance in a health centre, at home or in school, and working with parents and carers and education staff to conduct therapy work with a child. In some circumstances with children with very complex needs or severe difficulties, a child will be seen more intensively in a health centre, at home or at school. 

If your child cannot make an appointment then you need to ring the number on your appointment letter to cancel your appointment. If you do not attend and do not cancel your appointment, your child will be discharged. If repeated appointments are cancelled, then your therapist will discuss if it is the right time for therapy for your child. 

If you do not take your child to an appointment, and do not cancel, your child will be discharged from the service and a new referral will be needed. 

If your child has unintelligible speech they may need to be seen by our Service. Please see the referral section for information on whether a referral is appropriate, as children develop different speech sounds at different ages.   

Please also speak to your Health Visitor or School Nurse about whether a referral to hearing screening may be appropriate.

If your child does not seem to understand what is being said to them they may need to be seen by our service. Please see the referral section for information on whether a referral is appropriate, as children develop their understanding of language skills as they get older. 

Please also speak to your Health Visitor or School Nurse about whether a referral to hearing screening may be appropriate.

If your child does not seem to use the same words and language as other children of their age they may need to be seen by our service. Please see the referral section for information on whether a referral is appropriate, as children develop their expressive language skills as they get older.