COVENTRY & WARWICKSHIRE INTEGRATED CARE SYSTEM'S PILOT SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SERVICE WINS NATIONAL AWARD
5 July 2023
Commissioned by Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board, and delivered in partnership with Coventry’s Children’s Services and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT), a pilot speech and language therapy service has received a prestigious national award at the Skills for Health Our Health Heroes Awards. The service was named ‘Best Healthcare Initiative in a Community or Criminal Justice Setting’ by an expert panel of judges.
The service was set up in August 2022 as part of the NHS England funded West Midlands Vanguard project, to deliver a suite of interventions that provide targeted, community-based support for vulnerable children and young people with complex needs, aged between 10-18.
Working in close collaboration with the Youth Justice Team in Coventry, the speech and language therapy service provides assessment and intervention for young people open to the service, as well as training for staff.
The vital need for the service is clear. In one example, a 14-year-old with a stammer and a functioning comprehension age of 5 was referred to the service as he was breaching his bail conditions. Following an assessment his stammer was found to be affecting both his confidence and processing ability, which in turn was impacting his ability to understand the Court Order and conditions of bail. To help the 14-year-old to fully understand, the information they needed was reviewed and broken down to a level he could comprehend. This simple, targeted intervention helped him to comply with his bail conditions and curfew, avoiding further potential sanctions.
Lyn Parsons, Clinical Consultant Lead for the Coventry and Warwickshire ICB Vanguard Project, said:
“We are incredibly humbled that the work of our speech and language therapist Lauren is being recognised with this prestigious award.
“The West Midlands Vanguard project is responsible for commissioning community-based services for our most vulnerable young people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Although we are still early on in our journey, we are so proud of the huge strides that we have made so far and the impact that this project is already having.”
Upon receiving the award, Lauren Walton, speech and language therapist, said: “Speech and Language Therapy is an underrepresented profession in the criminal justice setting, so I’m delighted that the team’s work has been recognised at a local, regional, and national level. It was a pleasure to have been a part of the Our Health Hero Awards’.
Mary Mumvuri, Chief Nursing Officer and executive lead for AHPs at CWPT, has said: “I am really proud of the speech and language therapy service for receiving this award.
“It’s a pleasure to see that collaboration in the community is making a real difference and that working alongside the Youth Justice Team has had a positive impact.
“To be commended for the support we are giving to some of our most vulnerable young people, young offenders, is fantastic and is a testament to how patients are at the heart of everything we do.”
Neil Macdonald, Interim Director of Children’s Services at Coventry City Council said:
“We are so delighted that the speech and language therapy service has won this award. Here in Coventry our vision is to improve the services for children in our city to ensure they are safe and have the best start in life.
“This includes working with our partners in the Youth Justice Team as One Coventry to tackle the barriers young people face in understanding what is expected of them when complying with bail and curfew conditions. It’s part of a new approach to targeted intervention that supports young people to rebuild their lives by following a path towards a more positive future.
“We would like to thank all colleagues and partners for the work they have done over the course of this project so far.”