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Speech and language therapy (SLT) - community and outpatient services DRAFT

Checked: 18-07-2025 by Jenny Henry Next Review: 17-07-2027

Overview

SLT services provide assessment and intervention for adults over the age of 18 with communication and swallowing difficulties relating to acquired conditions. They are delivered by Sirona, NBT and UHBW (Bristol and Weston).

Please note that the teams have different areas of expertise and cover different areas of BNSSG so ensure you use the flow diagram and see the exclusions below when making referral choices to avoid the referral being rejected or delayed.

Exclusions

The SLT teams are not commissioned to provide input for issues relating to:

Developmental language or speech delay/disorder including dyslexia - see Dyslexia page
Mental health disorders such as schizophrenia
Autistic spectrum disorders without a learning disability - see Autistic Spectrum page
Hearing impairment - see Hearing problems page
Known oesophageal dysphagia in the absence of indications of oropharyngeal dysphagia (these patients should be managed by Gastroenterology).

Care Homes

Staff who look after patients with swallowing problems (including choking and oral holding) who live in care homes should use the resources below before considering referral:

Speech and Language care home resources - Sirona care & health

The care home staff will be required to work through an initial questionnaire pack which will guide them on management and provide resources. It will also inform them when to seek advice or consider referral which can be done directly. If the suggestions in the pack do not resolve the issues for the resident, they are welcome to contact Sirona via sirona.SLTcarehomesadvice@nhs.net

Patients in care homes who are referred may be directed to these resources before a referral will be accepted.

Children

Please refer to the Speech and Language Therapy (children and young people) page.

Referral

Referral Pathway

All services use the same combined Joint SLT Referral form which is available as an EMIS template for Primary Care.

Whilst patients are able to choose where they would like to be seen, it helps with effective management of patient or therapist travel time, including for home visits, if Bristol & South Gloucestershire GP Practices refer based on this list.

Please see the attached flow diagram to find out who to refer to in what circumstances and ensure that all referrals meet the criteria as laid out as those not meeting criteria may be rejected. Completed forms should be sent as follows:

Provider	Email for Referral	Telephone for further information
Sirona Community SLT services	Sirona.neuro@nhs.net	0300 125 5550
NBT SLT Team	SLTContact@nbt.nhs.uk	0117 414 5130
UHBW – Bristol	SLTBRI@uhbw.nhs.uk	0117 342 1564
UHBW – Bristol	SLTSTMH@uhbw.nhs.uk	0117 3421088
UHBW - Weston	SLTWGH@UHBW.nhs.uk	01934 647145

Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

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