28th February 2018

• Following reports from parents that their child’s speech and language therapy sessions had been cancelled due to service pressures, we asked the Sheffield Speech and Language Therapy Service for a statement.

  You can read it below.

  “The Sheffield Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Mainstream Schools Team has changed what we are able to offer this term. This has been in response to pressures from:

  • targets around EHCPs and conversions
  • an unprecedented increase in new referrals and time scales that we should see these within
  • unavoidable staff capacity issues, including long and short term sick leave

  We made a decision, in agreement with senior managers, to limit our NHS work into mainstream schools to only seeing new referrals and EHCP-related activity throughout the Spring Term 2018.

  However, children with very complex needs in mainstream settings will continue to receive input as usual. This includes those that are being currently managed by:

  • the Complex and/or Additional Needs SALT Team (including our ASD, Behaviour, Dysphagia, SLD and Downs Syndrome specialists)
  • the Developmental Language Disorders SALT Team
  • those children currently receiving a SALT service outside of school e.g. in clinic for pronunciation difficulties, children with cleft palate etc. that are seen at home or at the hospital
  • children with a significant hearing impairment

  Our services into the Early Years Team (including the Ryegate assessments, the hospital-based services, nurseries and home visits for pre-school children) and our Special School Services remain unchanged during this time.
  We have had some messages from schools of support and some asking us to explain the temporary changes.
  We hopeful that the Speech and Language Therapy Service to Mainstream Schools will resume as normal after the Easter School Holidays 2018.”