Award for project which has helped hundreds of children to communicate more clearly

An innovative project which has helped to improve the communication skills of hundreds of children across Norfolk has picked up a national award.

Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust’s (NCH&C) Talk About… project was named ‘Runner Up’ in the Allied Health Professions Federation Award for Integrated Care Delivery category, at the 2014 Advancing Healthcare Awards.

The project team received the accolade after working closely with Norfolk’s Early Years staff, including those based at nurseries, primary schools, and playgroups, to help improve the support on hand for children with communication difficulties.

Talk About… also won the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ Sternberg Clinical Innovation Award in September 2013 and picked up the Innovation Award at NCH&C’s Recognition of Excellent and Achievement in Community Health (REACH) Awards, held in March 2014.

The project, commissioned by Norfolk County Council, was launched in 2012 and is delivered by 10 expert Speech and Language Therapists from NCH&C. The Talk About… team has created 17 different training courses, which have been attended by more than 2,000 teachers, teaching assistants, nursery nurses, and other early years staff.

The courses offer information about how children’s speech and language usually develops, how to spot when communication skills are not developing as well as usual, how best to interact with children to promote language development, and ways to support both children and their parents.

In addition to the training courses, the Talk About… team has produced a number of short informative films, which focus on a different aspect of speech, language, and communication difficulties, such as Attention and Listening Difficulties and Selective Mutism.

The films are hosted online at www.talkaboutnorfolk.co.uk, alongside guides to specific conditions and signposting to additional support. This makes it even easier for practitioners and teachers to access information and support, as well as providing a useful information resource for parents.

Throughout the project, early years staff have helped to collect data on over 7,000 children in Norfolk, monitoring children’s language progress and the proportion considered as being ‘at risk’ of delay. Feedback from the project has shown that in all four of the monitored areas of language, the number of children considered as being at risk of having delayed communication skills has fallen. This information will be used to further inform future service provision.

Early years practitioners have also been evaluating the project, with feedback showing that almost nine-out-of-ten practitioners (88%) are now either ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ in supporting children with speech, language and communication needs, compared to just 57% at the start of the project.

Alison Fuller, Talk About… Project Lead and a Speech and Language Therapist, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this award. When we launched this project, we set out to work closely with Norfolk’s early years staff to provide the very best support to local children with communication difficulties. The results we are now seeing in Norfolk’s schools, nurseries and playgroups, along with this award, is a good indication that we have made good progress in achieving our goal.”

The 2014 Advancing Healthcare Awards, for allied health professionals, healthcare scientists and those who work with them, were presented by Roy Lilley, an NHS commentator and author, at a celebration lunch on Friday, April 11 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, in London. Organised by Chamberlain Dunn, the awards are now in their eighth year.

They are sponsored by NHS England, NHS Employers, Unite the Union, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland health departments, Health Education England, the Academy for Healthcare Science, the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the Allied Health Professions Federation, the Society and College of Radiographers, Pulse, GateHouse and Caboo Design.

Mayor’s Award for dedicated volunteer Trudie

A Community Learning Disability Nurse who has spent nearly a decade giving up her free time to check on the welfare of detainees in police custody has been recognised with a special Mayor’s award.

Trudie Needham, who works for Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCH&C), was presented with the community involvement award by Elizabeth Watson, the Mayor of West Norfolk, at a ceremony at King’s Lynn Town Hall last week.

She was nominated for the accolade by the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner’s office after dedicating nearly ten years to volunteering as an independent custody visitor.

Her role sees her coordinate and carry out unannounced visits to King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre to check that procedures are being correctly followed and those in custody are being treated fairly, any medical issues they may have are being addressed and that they are receiving legal help and other assistance, such as translators, wherever necessary.

“It was lovely to be recognised and left me speechless, which is something that doesn’t happen often,” said Trudie, 52, who lives in Little Snoring and fits her voluntary role in around her full time job supporting adults with learning disabilities across the north Norfolk area. “I was very honoured but also very humbled as I don’t do it for recognition. I do it because I enjoy it and I feel I make a difference.

“I applied for the role after my husband saw an advert, and started off as a custody visitor before becoming the coordinator for a group of five volunteers. I really like the job as I feel that we are helping and get to meet lots of people from diverse backgrounds. We’ve also built up a good relationship with the police staff over the years, and have a fantastic support from the custody visit scheme administrator as well.

“We’re not just there for the detainees, but are also there for the wider community as well as we help give the public reassurance that the police are acting as they should and treating people in custody fairly and with respect.

“My voluntary role offers me a bit of variety from my day job, which in itself is hugely diverse and enjoyable. No two days are ever the same, and that’s what has made it such a satisfying career for me.”

Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner, Stephen Bett, welcomed Trudie’s win, saying: “I am delighted she has been recognised in these awards. Trudie is a most deserving winner, working tirelessly and selflessly to do the best job she can.

“I value Norfolk’s Custody Visitors highly. The role they perform is a crucial one, ultimately meaning that the Constabulary provides a better service for all those who are in their care for periods of time.

“Trudie Needham is not only an excellent Custody Visitor, but she also provides true leadership and mentoring for others on her Panel and across the Scheme. She is a mine of knowledge and information about the subject – to say that she is merely a volunteer would not do her sufficient justice.”

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