Speech and Language Therapy
Poole
The speech and language therapy service is for adults (aged 16 or over) and provides evidence-based assessment and treatment of acquired speech, language, voice (communication) and/or swallowing problems.
We work in partnership with individuals and their families or carers, and other professions and agencies, to reduce the impact of communication and/or swallowing difficulties on people’s wellbeing and their ability to participate in daily life.
We provide both an inpatient and outpatient services, and work with people with the following conditions:
- Acquired brain injury
- Head and neck cancer and laryngectomy
- Progressive neurological disease such as motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and parkinson's disease
- Stroke
- Voice disorder
We will also see people who have not had a confirmed diagnosis but who are experiencing newly acquired communication and/or swallowing difficulties.
The outpatient service takes referrals from hospital doctors/consultants, GPs and specialist nurses from Poole and Bournemouth locality.
The inpatient service covers all adult wards in the hospital including elderly care, medical, surgical, critical care, trauma and orthopaedics, oncology and palliative care. We accept referrals for patients under any hospital consultant.
We also have therapists working as part of specialist multidisciplinary teams on the stroke unit, acquired brain injury unit and within the head and neck cancer team. We work in close liaison with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, radiographers and neuropsychologists.
We are involved in joint clinics with these departments:
- Videofluoroscopy clinic
- Head and neck clinic
- ENT voice clinic
- Radiotherapy clinics
Physiotherapy is part of the therapy services department, which also includes occupational therapy, orthotics and speech and language therapy.
Bournemouth
Our Speech and Language Therapy Team provide an inpatient service to adults with acquired communication and/or swallowing impairments.
Our service is divided between neurotherapy (Stroke Unit, Neurosmart and ESD) and our acute/older persons medicine wards, with therapists designated to these areas. We aim to assess our patients in a timely manner and set patient-centred treatment plans as part of the multi-disciplinary team.
Our speech and language therapists work with people with a wide range of medical conditions, including:
- Stroke
- Dementia
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Parkinson's Disease
- Motor Neurone Disease
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Guillain-Barre Syndrome
- Huntington’s Disease
- Other acute/chronic neurological conditions
- Hypoxic Brain Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Respiratory conditions e.g. COPD, pneumonia
- Cancer (including brain tumour)
- Voice disorders
- People with a range of acute infections
Get in touch
Acute Speech and Language Therapy Team:
0300 019 4437
Neurotherapy Speech and Language Therapy Team (Stroke and NeuroSMART):
0300 019 4032
Early Supported Discharge Team:
0300 019 4473
