Description
The Solent NHS Trust Adult SLT service supports people aged 16 and above with a range of communication and eating, drinking and swallowing needs. SLT services are provided across Portsmouth City, Havant and East Hants, Fareham and Gosport, Southampton City, West Hants, Romsey and the New Forest. Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) are based in and cover acute hospitals, community hospitals and a full range of community settings e.g. patient homes, residential homes, day centres and colleges. The acute team at Southampton General Hospital and Queen Alexandra Hospital also provide an in-patient service to the infant and children
Referral Criteria
The Adult SLT Service provides intervention and management of communication and eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties for clients aged 16yrs and over, living within the catchment area described above or patients from a wider area if they have been referred to a regional unit covered by Solent SLT. On the acute hospitals sites referrals for the acute in-patient paediatric service are also included. This service operates an open referral system. This means that anybody with communication difficulties may be referred to SLT, including self-referral. In practice the majority of referrals are received from Consultant Physicians and Surgeons, GPs, nursing colleagues including Health Visitors, any member of the multi-disciplinary team involved in the patient care and colleagues from Social Services departments. Referrals can be made in writing, by telephone and in Portsmouth, via the Single Point of Access system. In Southampton, all in-patient referrals are made via an electronic system, eQuest.
