Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust’s speech and language therapy service win prestigious award
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust’s (CWPT) speech and language therapy service 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 to provide additional support for vulnerable children and young people with complex needs between the ages of 0-18.
Working in close collaboration with the Youth Justice Team, which helps to rehabilitate young offenders, the speech and language therapy service intervenes when young people are experiencing difficulties.
A 14-year-old with a stammer and a functioning comprehension age of 5 is an example of one of the young people referred to the service.
Their stammer was found to be affecting his confidence and processing ability, which in turn was impacting his ability to understand a Court Order as he was breaching his bail conditions.
To help the 14-year-old to fully understand their bail conditions, the information was differentiated to a level they could comprehend, and as a result of the differentiation of information, they took onboard the Court Order and no longer breaches his bail conditions and curfew. The service is therefore vital to keeping young people on the right path.
Speaking at a glittering awards ceremony held in London Lynnette Parsons, Clinical Consultant said:
“We’re doubly proud of our achievements, as we're still very early in our journey from commissioning services, especially for our most vulnerable young people in Coventry and Warwickshire, so incredibly proud that the work of our speech and language therapist Lauren is being recognised today.
“I think having the recognition today has been incredibly important to us, we're incredibly humbled to be here. I think having the Our Health Hero Award is fantastic for us. I think it raises our profile, both within Coventry, but regionally and nationally as well. It offers us a platform to share one learning with wider stakeholders.”
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 recognised at a local and national level for the care we are giving to our most vulnerable young people, young offenders, is fantastic and is a testament to how patients are at the heart of everything we do. Congratulations team.”