Vote for speech and language therapy!

*Deadline Extended* 

 Many of you have told us about upcoming events that are the perfect opportunity to gather suggestions. To accommodate this, the deadline for submitting your manifesto ideas is now May 24th 2013. 

With a general election expected in May 2015, now is the time for speech and language therapists to decide what promises we want to see political parties making about how they will protect and grow services.

The period in which party manifestos are developed is a crucial time to gather support for a cause. RCSLT is collecting your suggestions this spring, allowing the maximum amount of time for us promote the chosen ‘asks’ to politicians in the run up to the election.

Here’s how you can play your part:

• Read our briefing to learn what an effective manifesto call includes and how to get more involved in the campaign

• Submit your ideas online

Click here for the blank suggestion forms and here  for the ballot box label.

• In May 2013 RCSLT will collate and review your suggestions and select a shortlist of priority asks.

• In autumn 2013 RCSLT will equip you with briefings and resources so you can promote these priority asks locally, when you meet your local politicians.

RCSLT will be meeting political parties at a national level to promote the asks.

• In 2014 as the election approaches, RCSLT will report back to you which parties have adopted which asks, giving you the chance to vote for speech and language therapy in 2015!

As with many campaigns, the vote for speech and language therapy will take a long time to prepare for and a lot of effort for perhaps just one sentence to appear in one party manifesto! However, the next general election is set to be such a crucial moment in setting the future direction of austerity measures and public service reforms that we must take up the challenge.

 Elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are set to take place in 2016. RCSLT will use your suggestions to plan our influencing in the run up to elections to the devolved parliaments and assemblies. If you work in the devolved nations, please take time to send us your suggestion now.

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Voice Box Awards 2012

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Northern Ireland Seven Signs Treasure Trail

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Giving Voice t-shirts

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Want to get in contact with a Giving Voice champion in your area? Contact Emma Barnes for more information.

Please note: Whilst we have tried to accurately represent the locations of our champions, SLTs often work in more than one geographical location. Please get in touch if no champion is displayed for your area.

If no one’s Giving Voice where you live, why not consider Signing up? 

Musselburgh therapist honoured for innovation - East Lothian News, 8 December 2012

Moor House school pupils involved in Giving Voice awards art workshop - Surrey Today, 6 December 2012

Award winning speech and language team – The Berwickshire News & East Lothian Herald, 2 December 2012.

Ford Congratulates Youth Justice team for Giving Voice award – Northern Ireland Executive, 30 November 2012

Therapist wins national award - Rochdale Online, 29 November 2012

Derbyshire speech therapists win third national award – The Chesterfield Post, 29 November 2012

North East Trust for Aphasia wins national award - Northern Echo, 28 November 2012

Students win national award for their commitment to speech therapy – www.leedsmet.ac.uk, 28 November 2012

BEST: Innovative technique to facilitate language development in children – www.medicalxpress.com, 28 November 2012

School’s pride and joy over national award – Sussex Express, 30 November 2012

Look at the Northern Ireland Treasure Trail photos

Each trail was specially tailored over a two mile route and included some very cunning clues. Every registered participant was entered into a £1000 prize draw. Maps were handed out to the participants, which included some key facts about Speech and language services in Northern Ireland.

Before the treasure hunt started everyone taking part drew a speech bubble regarding what being able to communicate means to them.

Look at the photos from this year’s ceremony

Watch our Giving Voice Awards 2012 video

Read the press coverage on the Giving Voice Awards and RCSLT Honours

With nominees shortlisted, votes cast and an audience on tender hooks our patron, HRH The Countess of Wessex took centre stage and announced many of this year’s winners. It was a glitzy afternoon affair which brought together health professionals, students, serviceusers, RCSLT members, trustees and politicians. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. A list of all the categories and winners can be found below:

Giving Voice Awards categories and winners.

UK-Wide Team Winner – Derbyshire Community Health Services Giving Voice Team
UK-Wide Team Runner Up – NHS Border Speech and Language Therapy Giving Voice Team
Student Group winners – Leeds Metropolitan University Speech and Language Therapy Student Group
Newly Qualified Practitioner – Julie Anne Carr
Social Media Campaigner – Charis Bond and Jenny Hirst
Outstanding Contribution to Speech and Language Therapy – Jane Norton
First Partner Organisation Award – North East Trust for Aphasia
Second Partner Organisation Award – Her Majesty’s Young Offender’s Institution Polmont
Third Partnership Award – The Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland
Celebrity Ambassador of the Year – Lee Ridley
Service User Champions Award -Vista Healthcare “Communication Rocks” Choir
Politician of the Year Award – John McCallister MLA
Journalist of the Year Award – Jeremy Laurance
Innovation Award – Speech and Language Therapy Students of Queen Margaret University Edinburgh.

RCSLT Honours categories and winners:

RCSLT Fellowships – Judi Hibberd, Margaret Freeman, Dr Sue Pownall, Willie Botterill
Assistant of the Year – Fiona McNaughton-Jones

Sternberg Awards
- Dr Christina McKean, Dr Sean Pert and Dr Carol Stow for developing ‘Building Early Sentences Therapy’ (BEST). 
- Nabiah Sohail for her instrumental work for developing and implementing the Hackney Packages Outcomes Document.

Honorary Fellowships
– Dr Chris Donlan
- Professor Bill Wells
- Lord David Ramsbotham

Our campaign is active throughout the year, so please let us know about your local Giving Voice activities by using the Reporting Activities Survey. It’s an important device for monitoring the impact across the UK.

Read about the Giving Voice Awards 2011 

Last year’s Voice Box Awards

Are you the funniest in your school?

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists is working with the Northern Ireland Assembly to raise awareness of speech, language and communication difficulties. As part of our Giving Voice campaign the RCSLT is running a competition to find the funniest pupils in Northern Ireland.

Send us your best joke on the official application form by 12 October 2012. If we like your joke we will invite you to present it in a live final at the Northern Ireland Assembly on the 15 November 2012.

Enter the Voice Box Awards and you could win an iPad 2 and other GREAT PRIZES!

Please download and print these fliers for use in your local school or SLT department to promote the Voice Box Awards.

Voice Box Awards Primary School Flier 
Voice Box Awards Post Primary School Flier

Download a Voice Box application form and send the completed form to janet.mcgookin@rcslt.org by 12 October 2012.

For more information please ring the RCSLT: 02890 446 385

(Please note: Application forms must be countersigned by your parent/carer and your school principal. All entrants must have the approval of their school principal.)

Find out about last year’s Voice Box Awards and read the winning joke!

Since the campaign launched in autumn 2010, members have excelled at planning and delivering local Giving Voice activity with no financial support from RCSLT. This fund is designed to enable a selection of the most ambitious, creative and innovative ideas to get off the ground. RCSLT strongly encourages its members to continue to plan Giving Voice activities that are low or no cost. Many services and student groups have managed this so far to great effect!

Assessing applications

• RCSLT will offer funding on the strength of this application.
• Only RCSLT members are eligible to apply for Giving Voice local activity funding.
• No funding will be awarded retrospectively to cover the costs of Giving Voice activities that have already taken place and all proposed activity will need to be approved by the RCSLT prior to incurring costs.

Finance

• Successful applications to the RCSLT Giving Voice Local Activity Fund will have the £200 funding transferred to them ahead of their event – but the RCSLT will require receipts and invoices to be submitted afterwards as evidence of expenditure. If your application is successful, you will be supplied with full instructions about financial arrangements.

Your commitment

• In order to be offered funding your Giving Voice campaign team must commit to reporting back to RCSLT on the outcomes of your funded Giving Voice activity. This will usually involve a short write-up for the Bulletin magazine within two months of the event taking place as well as supplying photographs and any media coverage for publication on the RCSLT’s website and social media channels. 

Communication

• Download the Local Activity Fund application form.
  
• Applications should be sent by email to Emma.Barnes@rcslt.org. A message acknowledging their safe receipt will be sent promptly.
• Applications must be submitted two calendar months in advance of the month in which you plan to hold your activity. See table below for deadlines.
• The RCSLT will notify all applicants by email as to whether they have been successful or not (see dates below).
  

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists launches Giving Voice campaign by highlighting the opportunity for SLT to deliver savings to the UK Government 

Findings published today (30 November 2010) by Matrix Evidence (Matrix) have found that speech and language therapy delivers an estimated net benefit to the UK economy of £765 million.

The findings, which coincide with the launch of the Giving Voice campaign by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), highlight how speech and language therapy offers significant cost savings to the NHS and wider government, by avoiding other clinical interventions and improving life prospects.

One example of this is that speech and language therapy for stroke survivors having difficulty with swallowing saves the National Health Service £13.3 million in costs for further treatment and support every year.

However, despite the proven cost effectiveness of SLT, a separate survey by the RCSLT of speech and language therapists across the UK has found that 84.4 per cent of therapists are being asked to reduce the scope of their services, with cuts to services of between five and thirty per cent in many areas.

One example is in Nottinghamshire County where, amongst other cuts, all speech and language therapy for children over the age of six with autism and no other speech, language and communication needs has been stopped.

The Matrix study looked at four of the most common conditions which are treated by SLT: patients suffering swallowing problems following a stroke; stroke survivors having difficulty with communication; children with speech and language impairment (SLI); and children with autism.

It found:

• In the case of patients suffering swallowing problems following a stroke (dysphagia) the provision of speech and language therapy delivers £13.3 million in net savings to the NHS, or a return of £2.30 for every £1 invested.
• For stroke survivors having difficulty with communication (aphasia), such as speech, comprehension, reading and writing  the net benefits are equivalent to are £15.4 million, with a return of £1.30 for every £1 invested.
• For children with SLI which is encountered by 203,000 UK school children in a given year, the annual net benefit to the UK is £741.8 million, with every £1 invested generating a return of £6.43 in enhanced lifetime earnings.
• For children suffering from autism, the cost savings are £9.8 million and every £1 invested generates £1.46 in cost savings

Kamini Gadhok, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists commented: “The NHS needs to achieve £20 billion of savings by 2014 and Matrix’s study proves that SLT can help meet that challenge.

“This is why we are launching the Giving Voice campaign.  It will highlight the value of speech and language therapy for hundreds of thousands of individuals each year, as well as the overall  benefit to the taxpayer.  We will also work with commissioners, including local authorities, to help them make the right investment decisions when it comes to supporting the needs of their local population and meeting their budgetary targets.”

As a first step, the RCSLT has called on the Government and local services to safeguard early identification of speech, language and communication difficulties; and use available resources to ensure timely access to speech and language therapy for all those who need it.

Anne Milton MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health said: “Speech and language  therapists make a significant contribution in tackling many  challenges and adding quality to life.  Helping people with speech,  language,  communication and swallowing  problems can have a far reaching effect  on  health, wellbeing, educational attainment, reablement and  reintegration into society. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ Giving Voice campaign provides an ideal platform to champion the role of speech and language therapists.”

Other supporters of the campaign include: Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP and Rt Hon. Ed Balls MP as well as singer Gareth Gates and Mark Logue, grandson of the Lionel Logue the speech and language therapist to King George VI made famous in the hotly tipped new film The Kings Speech which stars Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

Further information on the campaign is available at www.GivingVoiceUK.org

Please read our Giving Voice fact sheet.

Notes to Editors

Interviews are available with:

Kamini Gadhok, chief executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
Kevin Marsh, chief economist of Matrix Evidence
There are also a number of speech and language therapists and their patients – ranging from children who have had treatment for SLI, to stroke survivors who have been treated for dysphasia or aphasia post stroke.

Please contact: 
Robin Matheou, PR Manager, RCSLT: 020 7378 3013
Ben Evetts, Weber Shandwick: 07879 614 941

About Giving Voice

Speech and language therapists work with a huge variety of people, from young children who stammer, to older people recovering from stroke and other brain injuries. They aim to help give them ‘voice’ by improving their communication abilities and addressing their swallowing, eating and drinking difficulties.

The Giving Voice campaign will highlight the benefits of speech and language therapy by telling the stories of those who have benefited from treatment and by encouraging people to communicate how therapy has benefited their lives. Visit: www.givingvoiceuk.org

About the RCSLT

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the UK and has more than 14,000 members. It is responsible for setting, promoting and maintaining high standards in education, clinical practice and ethical conduct. The RCSLT provides an information service and careers guidance about speech and language therapy. Please visit www.rcslt.org for further information on the RCSLT.

About Matrix Evidence

Matrix Evidence provides analysis for policy and management through operational research, economic appraisals, public policy evaluations, and evidence reviews of what works. The Evidence team comprises specialists from economics, medicine, law, psychology, social policy, statistics, education, and operational research. Most are postgraduates with either a doctorate or a master’s degree. Our in-house knowledge base is complemented by a wide network of sector specialists, overseen by our chief scientist, Professor Paul Dolan of the London School of Economics. This unique blend of multi-disciplinary expertise is grounded in a wealth of experience of working in and with government (both national and local), the third sector, and consultancy. Our goal is to deliver readily accessible reports that enable our clients to use evidence and analysis to inform their decisions.