https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/wards-and-departments/departments/clinical-support-services/speech-and-language-therapy/
Speech and Language Therapy (S<) at GOSH
The Speech and Language Therapists within the service work with both children and young adults who have complex difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing. It is our aim to provide the highest quality and clinically effective specialist S< service. Our management will include the assessment and diagnosis of the presenting communication needs with recommendations for intervention and in some cases may include the provision of specific treatment programmes/protocols.
We work in conjunction with the child's locally based S< service and other professionals involved in their care. The children we see will present with communication and feeding difficulties arising from a wide variety of medical and surgical aetiologies.
Speech and Language Therapists within the service are actively involved in research and clinical audit projects. Findings are shared through journal publications and through education and training at an undergraduate and postgraduate level. All Speech and Language Therapists are registered with the Health Care Professions Council and are members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Some of our team are also affiliated with academic institutions.
Contact information
Direct general enquiries please contact:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Telephone: 020 7813 8110
Please note that the S< departments’ working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Services
The S< Service at GOSH is comprised of three main teams:
- Inpatient and Feeding Team
- Surgical Speech and Hearing (SSH) Team
- Neurodisability Team
The head of S< is responsible and accountable for the overarching strategic and operational delivery of the S< service. Each of the three sub-teams has a S< Team Lead who reports up to the Head of S< and who is responsible for the operational clinical delivery.
In addition, S< leads the Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) service, please see below for further information.
Inpatient and Feeding Team
Inpatients Speech and Language Therapy Service
We provide specialist S< services for children with communication and/or feeding and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) across all of the inpatient wards. Referrals can be made by any of the ward teams via the patient record system (EPIC) and can be prompted by families and caregivers.
Contact details:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Phone: 020 7813 8110
Outpatient Dysphagia/Feeding Clinics
We provide input to a range of uni- and multi-disciplinary clinics with a focus on diagnosis and management of dysphagia. Clinics include Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), general dysphagia, cleft dysphagia, neuromuscular and metabolic, Feeding and Eating Disorder Service (FEDS) and videofluroscopy (VFSS) clinics.
Multidisciplinary clinic referrals are directed to speciality leads, for example in Neurodisability, Feeding and Eating Disorders Service (FEDS), Neuromuscular, Metabolic teams and may require formal referral from external providers, for example community paediatrician.
Please contact specific services to discuss referral requirements.
Contact details:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Phone: 020 7813 8110
The Surgical Speech and Hearing Team (SSH)
The Surgical Speech and Hearing service provides specialist assessment of the speech, voice, breathing, nasality and hearing difficulties for those children and young people referred under a specialist or highly specialist commissioned pathway e.g. Cleft Lip and Palate, Craniofacial, Complex Airway/Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), Maxillofacial, Plastics and Cochlear Implant specialities. Our diagnostics include perceptual and instrumental methods. In addition, we may offer intervention to some children.
The North Thames Regional Cleft Service
The North Thames Regional Cleft Service is a twin site regional service based at Great Ormond Street and Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford. We see children and young people born with a cleft lip and/or palate from birth to age 20. We accept referrals for children and young people who have hypernasal speech or there are concerns about how the palate is working for speech, requiring further in-depth specialist assessment. We run the Velopharyngeal Investigations (VPI) clinic alongside Cleft Surgeons and support the 22q11 deletion syndrome clinic and Speech Prosthetics service.
Referrals should come from a child’s GP with a detailed letter describing their concerns and/or including correspondence from local Speech and Language Therapists or other health professionals. The cleft S< team are happy to give advice as to whether a referral is appropriate over the phone.
Contact details:
Email: cleft.slt@gosh.nhs.uk
Phone: 020 7813 8110
Find out more information about the cleft palate service at GOSH.
Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Complex Airway and Voice Service
The Speech and Language Therapists work closely with the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Service and within both uni- and multi-disciplinary outpatient clinics to ensure a cohesive and timely approach to management. We work with young people from birth through to 18 years old for voice, communication and dysphagia management and support transition to adult services where appropriate.
Diagnostic services include videofluroscopy (VFSS), laryngoscopy with stroboscopy and electrolaryngography. As an MDT we provide second opinions for children and young people whose voice and breathing disorders have not responded as expected to local interventions. Specialist treatment for functional neurological voice and breathing disorders and groups for young people with long term vocal difference are offered. We support local services to provide ongoing care close to home wherever possible.
Contact details:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Phone: 020 7813 8110
Find out more information about the ear, nose and throat service at GOSH
The Cochlear Implant Programme
The Cochlear Implant S< service offers expertise in comprehensive assessment and of the speech, language and functional listening development of children with hearing impairment who meet the criteria for assessment for cochlear implant.
We also offer a rehabilitation package for children who have received cochlear implants and are under the care of the Great Ormond Street Hospital cochlear implant programme. The cochlear implant service is a multi- disciplinary service comprising of an audiological physician, Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons, audiologists, Teachers of the Deaf, psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists. Clinics are predominantly outpatient.
Contact details:
Email: cochlearimplants@gosh.nhs.uk
Phone: 0207 405 9200 ext 4571
Find out more information about the cochlear implant service at GOSH.
Craniofacial Service
Speech and Language Therapists are part of the Craniofacial Multidisciplinary team who see children from birth to 18 years of age with single suture or complex/syndromic or non-syndromic craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the skull).
Speech, language and eating/drinking needs can occur in children and young people with craniosynostosis secondary to differences in:
- Oral structures
- Hearing and visual impairment
- Cognitive/developmental delays
- Upper airway difficulties.
Our service offers assessment, diagnoses and management of communication and feeding difficulties. Our priority is early intervention and to support at times of transition. Assessments predominately take place in outpatient clinics and may involve formal or informal assessment approaches, conducted at various ages and stages (but dependent on clinical need).
An integral part of our role is working closely with our Speech and Language Therapy colleagues in community services, providing care and support across the child’s daily environments.
Contact details:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Phone: 020 7813 8110
Find out more information about the craniofacial service at GOSH.
The Neurodisability S< Team (NDS)
Speech and Language Therapists work within the wider Neurodisability Service at GOSH. Neurodisability Service offers expertise in comprehensive assessment, diagnosis and advice on management of children with complex neurodevelopmental disorders.
The Neurodisability Service runs predominantly outpatient multi-disciplinary clinics, with Consultant Paediatricians, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, and Clinical Nurse Specialists. Clinics include Augmentative Communication Service, Developmental Communication, Developmental Epilepsy Service, Developmental Vision Clinic, Neurodevelopmental Assessment and Social Communication and Autism Service.
Clinics accept referrals from local Paediatricians and medical teams. The Augmentative Communication Service and Developmental Communication Clinic accept referrals from community-based Speech and Language Therapists.
Specific details on referral and referral forms can be found on the individual clinic pages on the trust website.
Contact Details:
General enquiries: neurodisabilityadmin@gosh.nhs.uk
Referral: gos-tr.neurodisabilityreferrals@nhs.net
Find out more information about the neurodisability service at GOSH.
Multidisciplinary Macroglossia Service For Children with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS)
This is a national specialised service for children who have macroglossia associated with BWS and is led by Speech and Language Therapy. All initial referrals are triaged by the BWS speech and language service before being assessed by the multidisciplinary BWS Team.
Contact details:
Email address: gos-tr.bwsqueries@nhs.net
Phone:0207 813 8110
Find out more about the multidisciplinary macroglossia service at GOSH.
Clinical Outcome Measures
The S< team is actively involved in gathering and reviewing outcomes data.
Research
The S< service is actively involved in leading and contributing to a wide range of research projects. Our research focuses on understanding the nature of speech, language, communication and eating and drinking difficulties experienced by children and young people, including child and parent experience, and evaluating treatments. This is often carried out with other members of GOSH and Institute of Child Health multi-disciplinary teams, including researchers from the Centre for Outcomes and Experience Research in Children’s Health, Illness and Disability (ORCHID). The team also have close working relationships with University College London (UCL) and City University, helping to link academic research with clinical practice. The team supervises MSc projects, providing opportunities for the next generation of S< to gain research experience. Members of the team frequently share their work at national and international conferences.
If you are interested in finding out more, contact:
Email: gos-tr.sltqueries@nhs.net
Resources and information
More information about S< is available at The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and Health and Care Professions Council websites.
For information regarding a career in S< please visit the RCSLT careers website.
Education and Training
The GOSH S< team routinely run training courses, which are advertised through our website, social media and Clinical Excellence Networks (CENs).
We also run an annual virtual course: ‘Introduction to Speech and Language Therapy in a Specialist Children’s Hospital’. This event is for those considering a career in S< and dates will be advertised here in due course.
For information about other upcoming courses please contact:
Email: eventsslt@gosh.nhs.uk