Speech and Language therapists (FOI)

​Request

Speech and Language therapists working for the Government have not had a manager for over two years. Due to the TOM 2 changes, it is unclear to them who is now holding the budget for the team. This has the impact they are not able to apply to do any continued professional development (CPD), which is an essential requirement to continue to be qualified to do their role and remain members of their regulating body, the Health Care Professional Council.

Please clarify:

A
Who or which Department is the budget holder for the speech and language therapy service;

B
How do the speech and language therapists access the training budget; and

C
Please confirm that every speech and language therapist has accessed the level of CPD required to remain members of their regulating body, the HCPC over the last two years.

Response

A
The Adult Speech and Language Therapy service sits within the Clinical Support Service and Cancer Care Group. The Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy service sits within the Women, Families and Children Care Group.

B
Speech and Language Therapists would identify their training needs in their annual appraisal and can apply for funding for training through their Care Group as per the standard procedure. All funding for training applications should be clearly linked to the objectives set for the service and the therapist’s role. All mandatory Health and Community service training is provided internally at no cost.

C
All Speech and Language Therapists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as their regulatory body. In order to maintain their professional registration it is their responsibility to demonstrate they meet required proficiency standards to continue to practice as Speech and Language Therapists. Speech and Language Therapists have sufficient Continuous Professional Development to maintain their registration with the regulatory body, the HCPC.