Barnsley Children’s Speech and Language Therapy is part of
South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
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Barnsley Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

The first appointment for eating and drinking referrals

A member of our admin team will call you to book you into a telephone case history appointment slot. They may contact you a few weeks before your appointment.

The telephone appointment call will be with a speech and language therapist trained in eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.  It will take around 30 minutes .  They usually call from a mobile number.  The first appointment is with you and your child does not need to be present. If they cannot get hold of you, they will:

  • Leave a message
  • Try and call you again in 10 minutes.
  • If you do not answer, we will discharge your child.

What happens in the telephone call?

We will ask you about:

  • Your child’s eating and drinking skills
  • What your child eats and drinks in a typical day
  • Chewing, coughing, gagging or choking
  • Your child’s medical history, any allergies and any professionals involved in their care.
  • Your child’s weight and growth
  • How your child reacts around food and drink

The speech and language therapist will also ask you:

  • Who lives at home so our records are up to date.
  • The name of your child’s school/nursery.
  • For consent to share relevant information with other professionals  e.g. school, health visitors.
  • Protected characteristics – such as religion, ethnicity or communication needs we need to be aware of

At the end of the call

The speech and language therapist will tell you what happens next. We may:

  • Discharge your child if we are not worried about their skills
  • Give you some general advice to help your child with eating and drinking, such as watching our YouTube channel or visiting our website
  • Ask you to take some videos of your child eating and drinking.  This is an important part of our assessment. The therapist will advise you what to include in the video. Please send them by the agreed date as we will discharge your child if we do not receive them.
  • Offer a further appointment by phone or face to face. Your therapist will arrange this with you. We mainly offer appointments in clinic.

Getting ready for your next appointment

If you are offered an appointment in clinic:

  • Make sure you know the clinic you are attending and the time – write this down
  • Bring some food and drink with your child to clinic – your therapist will often ask you to bring foods they enjoy and some which they may find challenging – so they can look at skills with different foods and drink.
  • The appointment will be around 45 minutes – please be available for the full appointment time

If you are offered an appointment at home:

Sometimes we need to see some children in the home. Please follow the advice below to be ready for your appointment:

  • Your child needs to be present and alert. If your child is unwell please contact your therapist
  • The visit will take around 30-45 minutes, so make sure that you are available for the full length of the visit.
  • Consider who else is home (e.g. friends and relatives). You will be giving us confidential information.
  • Provide the foods or drinks that the therapist needs to observe your child having.
  • In line with our trust policies, we ask you to refrain from smoking or vaping in your home for 30 minutes before our arrival and for the duration of the appointment.   We also ask for pets to be placed in another room.

After your appointment

After your appointment, the speech and language therapist will:

  • Speak to other professionals to make sure advice is clear and considers any other medical needs – we will ask your permission to do this
  • Recommend any further assessment needed for your child – such as more appointments with us, referrals to other professionals or recommendations for studies such as a videofluoroscopy (swallow x-ray)
  • Give advice to support your child’s eating, drinking and swallowing
  • Visit your child in school or nursery if needed
  • Arrange more appointments with you if your child needs it
  • Provide any training needed to school, professionals and home
  • Provide a report and eating and drinking care plan
  • Discharge your child if no further advice is needed.

Remember

Phone and video appointments are also NHS appointments.  Please answer at your booked appointment time. If we can’t get hold of you, we will discharge your child. If you can’t keep your appointment, cancel by ringing 01226 644331 or by email on: barnsley.speechtherapy@swyt.nhs.uk.   If you cancel an appointment, we usually offer a further appointment but there may be a short delay. If there is a pattern of frequent cancellations, we may discharge your child.

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