NHS Innovations North

Lets talk

The Problem

The implementation of a new child health surveillance/ promotion schedule across North Tyneside in October 2002, challenged the speech and language service to find new ways of identifying children who would benefit from the service. The changes to services highlighted the need to empower parents and all Early Years carers to become ‘expert practitioners’.

The Solution

Winslow, a specialist publisher and marketer of learning resources for various conditions relating to health, education, speech and language, special needs and others feature Let’s Talk in their specialist catalogue.

Benefits to the NHS

The response to Let’s Talk has been very exciting. Parents polled through Sure Start were enthusiastic about the child focused material, finding the contents informative and affirming.

Therapists from other districts wish to purchase and use the booklet. Referrals to the service have remained on target for the trust indicating that children presenting with communication difficulties are non ‘slipping through the net’ as widely feared with the changes in the service.

NHS Innovations North worked with the Speech and Language Therapy Department’s Early years team at North Tyneside Primary Care Trust and Sure Start North Tyneside to seek a printer and distributor for the resource. NHS Innovations North negotiated a manufacturing license agreement with Beaver Business Gifts.

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