Find and maintain leaders An experienced associate practitioner who can carry out therapy plans is critical to the provision of a high quality SALT service.

Follow a targeted and consistent approach based on international stroke standards Introduce effective tools such as Therapy Outcome Measure (TOM) to ensure a robust approach to establishing patient status across the ICF framework (a classification system for measuring health and disability), and for focusing therapists on the purpose and type of intervention they should provide.

Therapy packs Develop therapy packs to target specific standards (International Classification Framework based outcomes) to ensure consistency of therapy across the team and improve communication.

Nurse involvement Stroke competent therapy nurses who can further support therapy plans ensures therapy is carried over to weekends and bank holidays.

Measure impact and repeat SSNAP results are assessed to measure effect of changes and guide future work plans.

Seek and respond to feedback “I like having something to keep me busy” - Stroke patient

“Training has provided increased knowledge which has been key in providing a better service, this has enabled us to provide a better continuity of care for the patient.” - Stroke nurse

Top tips submitted by Kathryn Head, clinical lead speech and language therapist, at Cwm Taf University Health Board.


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