RCSLT announces forthcoming survey on access to speech and language therapy during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the RCSLT has been very concerned about people with communication and swallowing needs and their ability to access the speech and language therapy they require.

To support our national influencing work on this issue, we are planning to launch a survey at the end of September on service users’ experiences of accessing speech and language therapy, the impact this had on them and their thoughts about the future. This delivers on a long-standing ambition the RCSLT has had to work with service user organisations to understand their beneficiaries’ experiences of speech and language therapy.

We are currently consulting service user organisations on the survey questions and working with colleagues to ensure that they are produced in a range of accessible formats. We are delighted that Dr Judy Clegg, of the University of Sheffield, will be analysing the survey’s findings for us early in 2021.

Once the survey questions have been finalised, we will be working with service user organisations to promote the survey to their beneficiaries. Where appropriate, we would also like speech and language therapists to help us with this promotion.

If you are interested in supporting this piece of work, please contact the RCSLT’s Head of External Affairs, Peter Just, or our External Affairs Assistant, Padraigin O’Flynn. They can be contacted via peter.just@rcslt.org and padraigin.oflynn@rcslt.org