Whittington Hospital: Dysphagia Training Centre of Excellence
The speech and language therapy department were recently involved in an innovative pilot clinical placement for five City University speech and language therapy students.
The adult acute speech and language therapy team put together a comprehensive training package in collaboration with City University looking at assessing adult patients with acquired dysphagia (swallowing problems). The speech and language therapy team based at the Whittington Hospital will now be known as a Dysphagia Training Centre of Excellence by City University.
The Whittington Hospital was one of two hospitals approached to pilot the placement and offered to focus on adult acute care. Five students attended for five consecutive days during January.
The intensive placement enhances the collaborative relationship the speech and language therapy department has with City University, as well as providing increased variety of clinical placement opportunities with the speech and language therapy department.
The adult speech and language therapy team felt one of the major benefits of the placement was the focus on collaborative working within the team. In addition to promoting our reputation within the speech and language therapy profession, the pilot provided the opportunity for development of clinical supervision skills across the team as well as to continue to promote the Whittington Hospital as an excellent teaching organisation.
The department will continue to work collaboratively with City University to fine-tune the placement, and provide advice to other hospitals when the intensive placement is launched.
Last updated15 May 2009