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Children’s speech therapy

Posted By columbany75

"Children’s speech therapy"

About: Children & younger people's services / Children's Speech and Language Therapy

(as a service user),

No  face to face service offered. My child has lots of issues and was previously seen in school, wasn’t great but was seen termly. From our experience the service now seems to be none existent .  My child has no  actual therapy, since February 2020. He isn’t seen in school anymore , school have had no support at all  and I’ve been told that they have stopped all school support , only offering support to parents at home via remote therapy .

I was offered  two 15 min online meetings, meaning I had  to take my child out of school each time, there was no involvement with school  and no follow up. I have to decide when my child’s targets have been met, despite not being a therapist and have been discharged and told to get in touch if I want more help, despite me telling them I definitely will as he has life long issues.

Was told due to Covid, yet also told no plans to offer face to face for the foreseeable and no plans to start school visits again either, my sons school are desperate for support but most they have been offered is a phone call. I am having to look into private therapy and I feel totally unsupported and frustrated at the lack of service offered, friends in other areas have received lots more support and have had access to online videos / resources etc , we feel like we have just been abandoned.  . 

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Responses

Response from Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist, Specialist Services, Health Partnerships 4 years ago
Health Partnerships

Submitted on 17/05/2021 at 14:24
Published on Care Opinion at 14:34

Thank you for taking the time to post feedback about the service. We apologise if your experience of the service has not been a positive one. We would like the opportunity to discuss your concerns with you in more detail and would invite you to ring the SPA on 03001233387 in order to do so.

Update posted by columbany75 (a service user)

We note you apologise for our 'experience' of your service rather than recognising that the service itself can be poor and is not meeting the needs of children and families. The response is frustratingly generic and shows no insight.

Myself and my husband have already discussed this with some of the leads at the service at length, with no success or answers to any questions, everything is put down to Covid which feels like a total 'cop out', our friends with children in other areas of the UK have received a far superior service, despite Covid.

For our benefit and that of other parents who may be accessing this site, we need you to answer the following;

- Why Speech Therapy are not offering face-to-face appointments with parents or school visits, when our child's school tells us other services are going in and that the department for Education has said Speech Therapists are now allowed in.

- Why so little support has been offered during lockdown.

- Why, as I have been told, you no longer offer ongoing care, but instead seemed to have repackaged as 'episodic care' which feels like being fobbed off with a very limited service.

- Why people are offered only 2 remote, 15 minute sessions before discharging, telling parents to get back in touch, despite you knowing that my child will need support for the long term.

We will not be spending more time ringing the SPA and spending yet more time trying to be heard.. We feel that the department has not been interested in really listening, just quoting jargon at us and expecting us to feel grateful for what we have found to be a very poor service.

We have given up Nottinghamshire Healthcare's Speech Therapy Service. We are now in the process of appointing a private therapist. We should not have to pay for therapy when you have already told us our child meets the entry requirements for NHS support. Lots of other people won't be in the fortunate position that we are in and may not be able to afford this for their children.

Response from General Manager for Specialist Services, Health Partnerships 4 years ago
Health Partnerships

Submitted on 18/05/2021 at 14:45
Published on Care Opinion at 14:45

I am responding to your posting as General Manager of the Service. I am unable to comment on individual cases on this forum but am happy to have a discussion with you or your husband as your convenience.

During lockdown all our services have not had access to schools due to school closures. Speech and Language therapy services have utilised a number of other platforms, e.g. video consultations, telephone consultations, clinic visits to ensure children receive the care required. All children referred to the service have had individualised care plans to meet their needs.

Please contact me on sophy.parkin@nottshc.nhs.uk to arrange a time to have a discussion

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