Drumcoo Centre

Drumcoo Centre's Charter Mark Award was due to the excellent work of experienced staff, motivated members and the support of families/carers. The high standards achieved at the Centre are a response to the high expectations of Centre members and the provision of an environment where people with disabilities are challenged to achieve more and more. The award was a clear recognition of the dedication and hard work that goes into planning, developing and delivering a quality service to members.

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Speech and Language Therapy Service

Introduction:

Our mission statement reads "We the Speech and Language Therapy Department in the Western Health and Social Care Trust aim to provide an efficient, effective, courteous, timely and locally based service to people of all ages who have a communication impairment.

All Speech and Language Therapists employed in this Trust have a licence to practice issued by the Royal College of Speech Therapists. Thus all patients are assured of receiving therapy from an appropriately trained therapist and furthermore will receive therapy and for consultation from a specialist Speech and Language Therapist as and when required.

We have specialists in the following areas:

We Offer our Service in a Wide Variety of Locations eg:

We Receive Referrals From:

Current Initiatives

Research into Stammering

We are currently involved with the British Stammering Association's Parental Awareness Campaign. This involves educating Health Visitors and G.P.s regarding early childhood stammering and the importance of early referral to Speech and Language Therapy.

For more information you can visit the British Stammering Association's website.

W.I.L.S.T.A.A.R. -This is a programme designed to target young babies (9 months) at risk of developing speech and or language difficulties. We have funding for a 9 month period on-going in the Castlederg area.

Advisory Speech and Language Therapist to schools in Trust area - The W.E.L.B. and W.H.S.S.B. have jointly funded this exciting initiative whereby a Speech and Language Therapist visits schools and helps the teachers to identify and support those children who have speech and language problems. This is the only project of its type in Northern Ireland and has been funded for a two year period beginning September 1999.

How and Where to contact us:

Speech and Language Therapy Department 15 Elliott Place
Coleshill
Enniskillen
BT74 6AY
Tel: 028 6638 4096

Speech and Language Therapy Department Community Services Department
Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital
OMAGH
BT79 ONS
Tel: 028 8225 5100

The Role of the Speech and Language Therapist

As a speech and language therapist you will have a vital role in assessing communication and swallowing problems in people of all ages. Using your specialist skills you may then work with the client and provide support and advice to both client and carers. You will also work closely with teachers and health professionals including nurses, doctors, and psychologists. Communication covers a wide range of processes, including speaking, listening, reading and writing. As a speech and language therapist you will be involved with children and/ or adults with a wide variety of communication difficulties. These may be in the production and appropriate use of speech sounds, understanding of spoken language, appropriate use of language, or the client may have a stammer or a voice problem. You may also be involved in working with people who have difficulties feeding, chewing and/ or swallowing.

Opportunities are also good for bilingual speech and language therapists who have knowledge of minority languages and a good command of written and spoken English. Your clients may be referred to you by other professionals such as doctors or teachers, by family, or by themselves. Their difficulties may be a result of any of a number of factors, or a combination of factors. These may include physical difficulties, learning difficulties, stroke, hearing loss or deafness, degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's Disease or cystic fibrosis, head injury, cancer of the mouth or throat, cleft palate, dementia, and psychiatric disorders. In your assessment of the client, you will consider a range of information, including for example medical information, and developmental history, as well as the results of formal assessment of the client's skills and difficulties you will have carried out, and informal observation and discussion.

Using all this information, you will make treatment decisions based on the client's needs as well as taking into account those of the carers. If you decide to work directly with a client, this may take place in any of a number of settings, including community health centres and clinics, GP surgeries, in-patient and out-patient departments of hospitals, mainstream and special schools and units, assessment centres and day care centres, and clients' homes. You may work with your clients on an individual basis, or you may run groups, possibly with the aid of a speech and language therapist's assistant, or with another therapist, or another professional such as a physiotherapist or a teacher. You may also have a speech and language therapist's assistant to work under your guidance with a client. In addition to your work with clients and carers, you may be involved in providing training, for example to teachers and assistants in schools, to care staff in residential homes and schools, to parents and parents-to-be, and to other staff in hospitals and health centres. This preventative and educational role is becoming an increasingly important part of the job.

Speech and language therapy depends on the successful building of a one-to-one relationship with your client who may be severely impaired in one or more ways, and deeply distressed. You will need to have good communication and listening skills and problem-solving abilities. You will enjoy working with people of all ages and backgrounds as well as working in a team with members of other professions. In addition you will want to be part of a rapidly developing dynamic profession which draws on science, education and medicine, and you will have the capacity for academic study.

Entry Requirements

For a first degree, qualifying you as a speech and language therapist, you will need a minimum of five GCSE passes (or equivalent) and two A levels, or three Scottish Higher passes. Most courses however require three A level passes or four Scottish Highers. Courses normally specify some GCSE subjects such as English language, biological or other science, maths or a foreign language. One or more A levels may also be specified. Alternative qualifications to A level are also considered, for example, Access courses. Applications from suitably qualified mature students are welcome. Evidence of recent study is usually required from people with a non-standard academic background. Up-to-date information on specific entry requirements, and postgraduate courses, should be obtained directly from the appropriate education establishment.

Education and Training

Most student speech and language therapists take a three or four year ordinary or honours degree course at one of a number of education establishments in the UK. These courses are accredited by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), the professional body responsible for monitoring and maintaining professional and academic standards. (The Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists accredits a further course in Ireland, at Trinity College, Dublin.) Though the name and type of the degrees varies, all accredited courses lead to graduates receiving a Certificate to Practise from RCSLT. This is a statutory requirement to work as a speech and language therapist in the NHS. Those who already have an appropriate first degree may apply to study for a postgraduate degree over two years at one of five education establishments, where courses are accredited by RCSLT as above. Wherever you study, the course will include a balance of both theoretical and practical components. The theory includes lectures and seminars in language pathology and therapeutics, speech and language sciences, behavioural sciences, bio-medical sciences, education, acoustics, research methodology and statistics, psychology, sociology and professional issues. The practical components of the course give students the opportunity to apply the theory to practice and to develop their clinical skills by working with a variety of clients in a range of work settings, supervised by qualified speech and language therapists. Clinical placements usually take the form of one day a week over a period of time, combined with longer blocks in the workplace.

Career Prospects

Most newly-qualified speech and language therapists work with a general caseload for at least a year, which often includes work in both paediatric and adult fields. The profession offers a wide variety of client groups and situations in clinical work in which you may wish to specialise, depending upon your individual skills and interests. Alternatively, you may wish to move into research, teaching or management as your career progresses. There is considerable demand for RCSLT-registered speech and language therapists. Registration with RCSLT upon qualification enters you on the Graduate Register, usually for not less than one year, at the end of which you may apply for inclusion in the Full Register. This entitles you to use the initials Reg MRCSLT after your name, and shows that you are a fully qualified speech and language therapist committed to continuing professional development and RCSLT's code of ethics.

A few facts about Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy is a health care profession which provides services to people whose ability to function in daily life has been disrupted by physical illness or injury, developmental problems, the ageing process, or mental or emotional illness. The goal of occupational therapy is to assist each individual in achieving an independent, productive and satisfying lifestyle. Treatment programmes involve the use of activities which are relevant and adopted to the needs of each individual client.

Who can benefit from Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy can benefit individuals of any age who have a physical, emotional, or developmental problem, including:

What services do occupational therapy practitioners provide?

Through evaluation and treatment, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help people:

Where are Occupational Therapy Services available in the Fermanagh and South West Tyrone area?

A:

The service is available to all in-patients in each facility. Follow-up outpatients treatment is provided, as is an outpatient service to clients referred from regional facilities or by their G.P.

B: Paediatric Occupational Therapy Department

An Outpatient Service to children aged 0 -16 years is provided at the aforementioned department, however, during school term time sessional input is provided on a regular basis to Cranny, Heatherbank, Elmbrook and the Erne School. Children attending main stream schools receive input on an 'as and when required' basis

C: Mental Health Services

OT staff are employed as members of our local community Mental Health Teams and work across the whole area covered by the Trust. Staff also provide an inpatient service within the Tyrone & Fermanagh Hospital.

D: Community Departments

Staff based in these facilities provide a service to clients who are registerable as disabled. They deal mainly with the provision of equipment and housing adaptations. Referral is via Northern Ireland Housing Executive, GP, Social Worker and all other members of the Health & Social Care Teams.