Speech and language therapy pilot will help improve patient experience
Nottingham University Hospital (NUH) NHS Trust has launched a pilot of dedicated Speech and Language Therapists (SALT) in their Emergency Department (ED) which will target getting patients eating and drinking earlier, improving the patient experience and supporting earlier discharge from hospital.
The pilot started in the first week of January and is located in NUH’s Majors Unit (MU), Acute Medicine Receiving Area (AMRA) and B3 AMU. The pilot involves a speech and language therapist being available in those areas between Monday and Friday, from 8am to 4pm, to provide:
- Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of swallowing and communication problems
- Training and education
- Mental capacity assessments for people with communication difficulties.
The pilot has started with great success with an influx of new referrals to the Speech and Language Therapist on ED. The therapist is there to support anyone with communication or swallowing impairments, such as people who have had a stroke, those with Dementia or progressive conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease.
The pilot of a dedicated Speech and Language Therapist in ED is producing a number of benefits, including:
- Improved patient experience and safety
- Reduced length of stay and risk of mortality
- Quicker response times for swallowing assessments
- Better communication between staff and patients.
Commenting on the pilot, Specialised Speech and Language Therapist Tiffany Green quoted the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), saying “Speech and Language Therapists play an important role in supporting effective urgent and emergency care. Working within integrated care teams, their unique skills and expertise help to improve patient care, create financial savings and reduce pressures on A&E services”
“The 3 month pilot aims to assess and treat speech, language, communication and swallowing problems on admission to A&E therefore reducing the impact of admissions to hospital, providing communication resources to support patients earlier and getting patients eating and drinking quicker and safer. Speech and Language Therapists can contribute to preventing a cycle of emergency readmissions by working with patients and their families and carers to manage their communication and swallowing difficulties sooner along their patient journey and also when they return home.”
“I am working with a huge range of patients some of whom are older patients who may have been admitted to A&E following a fall or urine infection, for example, but then are subsequently found to be struggling with malnutrition and dehydration due to a swallowing difficulty. I am also seeing patients and supporting their families with advice around feeding and swallowing in end of life care. The RCSLT note that ‘with Speech and Language Therapy input the patient can return to the community with an end of life plan that will enable them to die in their preferred place of care, rather than being admitted to hospital as emergency cases as their condition deteriorates.’”
Please follow @NUHAdultSLT on Twitter for more updates.