I am a speech and language therapist working in Lincolnshire. My remit as well as leading the language outreach team is to support the team of twelve speech and language therapy assistants who work across the county.Lincolnshire is a huge county and in the past certain areas have received more speech and language therapy sessions than others making for an inequitable service delivery. This has caused stress for both staff and patients and their families.
By encouraging assistants to work more flexibly and to move to where need is greatest on a regular basis, this has allowed the county to be looked at as a whole and waiting lists, although they still exist, are fairer across the county and there are no longer such pockets of real need.
Initially most staff were apprehensive about the change as it would involve leaving areas that they were very comfortable with and travelling sometimes quite long distances to areas of the county that they were unfamiliar with, both in geography but also to work in schools and clinics they did not know. However the team were really fantastic with the way that they accepted the challenge and began to work with children further afield.
It is not always easy to continue to motivate staff with something new and challenging but I am continually impressed with how the assistants pack up their cars, drive to new schools and clinics to deliver their therapy sessions with continuing enthusiasm and commitment.
I was so impressed with their dedication that I put them forward for our Lincolnshire Community Healthcare Services Trust celebrating success award where they won team of the year.
In the current climate where money is short and time is squeezed these twelve members of staff work at the coal face to deliver high quality service in a timely and efficient manner.
For that they should get recognition from 100 Days of Change.