View Online | Forward to a Friend | Add to Safe Senders | Accessibility Link

RCSLT Logos_RCSLT Scotland Light_1

RCSLT Scotland newsletter

The latest developments from RCSLT Scotland

January 2025

Glenn BBC headshot 11

Dear [#First name#&=member],


Happy New Year! And in case you missed it, Happy 80th Anniversary to RCSLT! 


VoiceBox is back! This is a brilliant tool for raising awareness and has already led to some fantastic connections and service visits from politicians - covering both adult and children’s services. 


I was lucky enough to attend the unveiling of a communication board in Perth recently. As I said on the day, developing more inclusive spaces reflects the values of our communities and brings into focus key questions like: “Do we value everyone equally?” and “Do we value everyone’s human rights?” 


This newsletter covers a wide range of topics, including dysphagia, public health, stammering, Parkinson’s, and dementia. 


I hope you enjoy it!


Glenn Carter 

Head of RCSLT Scotland                    

News

VoiceBox 25 Launch day2

VoiceBox 2025 Launch Day!


On ‘Blue Monday’, 20th January, we were thrilled to officially launch VoiceBox 2025! Hosted by last year’s winning school, Cockenzie Primary in East Lothian, the pupils had everyone in stitches with their brilliant jokes! 


The VoiceBox competition is now open to all primary schools across Scotland, giving pupils the chance to share their funniest jokes while raising awareness of the importance of communication and the power of speech and language therapy. 


This is a really important influencing opportunity for the profession so please encourage your local primary schools to get involved and thank you to everyone who has helped launch the campaign. 


We got some great media coverage. Find out more about the VoiceBox competition here.

Dysphagia1

Dysphagia


We have been working hard to influence in the area of Dysphagia. 


In December, Glenn and Kathleen (Senior Project Manager, RCSLT) had a highly productive meeting with the Royal College of GPs to generate joint solutions in the Eating and Drinking with Acknowledged Risks work. 


Glenn and Kathleen also met with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to provide support and feedback regarding the Dysphagia pathway for Scotland.

AHP public health stategic framework

UK AHP Public Health Strategic Framework 2025-2030


The new Public Health Strategy for AHPs was published yesterday. This report provides the vision and goals to support our ambition to further embed public health as part of AHP roles and to ensure the positive impact on public health by AHPs is recognised and valued. 


It has been co-produced by AHP professional bodies and the 4 UK nations. As you know, Speech and Language Therapists have a huge role to play in addressing health inequalities and preventing harm. 


You can find the new AHP Public Health Strategic Framework here.

communication board_perth

Public Park Communication Board


Congratulations to Tayside Speech and Language Therapy department who collaborated with the local partners and Enable to install communication boards at King George’s Jubilee Park in Methven. 


The event was attended by local schools, several councillors, health and education staff and RCSLT. Heather Payne and Kira Tubbs who led on the project were delighted at the interest from local politicians and are hopeful that this will lead to more opportunities to create communication friendly public spaces within Perth and Kinross. 


Read more in the media here.

July_illustration_desktop2

Stammering


Glenn has written a letter supporting a bid for funding a study on stammering therapy that could lead to widespread training for generalist SLTs working with children. 


The research aims to assess the effectiveness of the therapy when delivered by generalist therapists across the country. By demonstrating the therapy's success in this model, the study could ensure children nationwide benefit from this approach and facilitate greater access for all speech and language therapists to use this approach.

EIS event

EIS Event


In December, Glenn attended an Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) event at the Scottish parliament and contributed to an excellent panel discussion. He had the opportunity to discuss human rights, mainstreaming, and how SLTs help to meet the needs of CYP with additional support needs. He also had the opportunity to talk to key politicians including the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.

Parkinsons UK logo22

Parkinson's UK audit


Parkinson’s UK would like to encourage all SLTs who are likely to see at least 10 people with Parkinson's over a 5-month period to undertake the audit. The audit runs every three years and is part of a three-year service improvement cycle. Services are audited against the relevant standards like the Parkinson's NICE guidelines and receive a report which provides a benchmark against the average for SLT services. We then ask services to work on at least one service improvement, with the progress available at the next audit in three years time. 


Registration for the 2025 audit is from the 10th February - end of March and the data collection is between May and September. You can register via their website or by emailing audit@parkinsons.org.uk

Parkinsons UK_PEN

Parkinson's Excellence Network 


The Parkinson's Excellence Network (PEN) in Scotland brings together professionals who work with people with Parkinson's disease including Parkinson’s nurses, consultants and Allied Health Professionals, such as Speech and Language Therapists. The network aims to help professionals develop their understanding of the condition, share their experiences, and look at ways to improve their service. The network is free to join for any interested professional. 


For a full description of the network click here.

Bulletin_80 years

Celebrating 80 years of RCSLT


This year the RCSLT marks its 80th anniversary! 


To kick off the 80th celebrations, RCSLT have published a special commemorative edition of Bulletin. This edition highlights inspiring member stories and takes a fresh look at the profession through photographs showing some of the moments that make up the everyday life and work of SLTs around the UK. 


Read the bulletin online here.

Policy Roundup

Policy_v21

Strengthening global advocacy for communication and swallowing needs


In December, the RCSLT announced the publication of its new International Engagement Strategy and Workplan, marking a vital step in our work advocating for speech and language therapy and the rights of people with communication and swallowing needs globally. 


The new strategy highlights RCSLT’s dedication to international collaboration and advocacy, emphasising the critical role of speech and language therapy services in supporting communication and swallowing needs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. A central focus of this strategy will be understanding and addressing the perspectives and experiences of service users.  More information here.

Get Involved

Survey

SIGN - Guideline 168 impact survey


Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) - Guideline 168 assessment, diagnosis, care and support for people with dementia and their carers SIGN are seeking feedback from users of the guideline and supporting documents and are particularly keen to hear how it has been used and implemented, since it was published in November 2023. 


Complete this short surveyopen until Wednesday 29 January 2025. Your response will help support implementation of this guideline and others in the future. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact alan.bigham@nhs.scot.

NES_logo 211

Digital Health & Care Leadership Programme (DLP)


Led by NHS Education for Scotland and funded by Scottish Government, the DLP programme supports professionals across health and social care to develop their leadership skills and influence digital solutions within their organisation. 


Application deadline: Monday 3rd March 2025.  

More information can be found here.

Upcoming Events

Illustration crop

IJLCD Winter Lecture – 12 February 2025


RCSLT are delighted to announce our recently rebranded IJLCD Winter Lecture. The focus for the next lecture will consider key concepts around dosage and active ingredients when providing language interventions, with speakers Professor Cristina McKean and Dr Pauline Frizelle. 


This lecture aims to examine the available evidence about the characteristics of child language interventions which make them work or not. It will be of relevance to all therapists working with children and young people with language difficulties, but also contains key concepts about dosage and active ingredients which will be of relevance to all therapists who provide language interventions.  More information can be found here.

Dec_illustration_desktop1

Swallowing Awareness Day – 19 March 2025


Swallowing Awareness Day is a time to raise awareness of how speech and language therapists (SLTs) help people living with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

Swallowing Awareness Day takes place on Wednesday 19 March, as part of Nutrition and Hydration Week. More information available on the website soon.

NHS Scotland event

NHS Scotland Event – 9 June 2025


The NHS Scotland Event 2025 will take place on Monday 9 June 2025 at the Technology & Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow. Save the date for Scotland’s key networking and educational event for those who work in and with NHS Scotland. Event updates will be posted on the NHS Events webpages here.

No longer want to receive emails from the RCSLT? You can unsubscribe from all RCSLT communications.

Copyright 2024 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists. All rights reserved.