Speech & Language Therapy
We are a team of trained healthcare professionals whose range of specialist skills ensures that we can respond to the needs of adults with communication and swallowing difficulties arising from a wide variety of medical conditions. All of our speech and language therapists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and are members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Our team works in a variety of settings such as your own home including nursing homes, outpatient departments and the wards of community hospitals.
We provide assessment, information and therapy for adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders. We offer outpatient services and can also provide home visits for people who are housebound or in nursing homes.
Gravesham Community Hospital, Bath Street, Gravesend DA11 0DG
Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital, Bell Road, Sittingbourne ME10 4DT
t: 0300 247 0400
Sheppey Community Hospital, Plover Road Minster-on-Sea, ME12 3LT
t: 0300 247 0400
More about us
We provide and implement:
- specialist assessment of speech, voice, language and/or swallowing
- therapy to restore communicative competency and/or swallowing to maximum potential
- compensatory strategies for both speech and swallow
- techniques for managing communication and swallowing disorders and teaching how to avoid risks
- techniques to improve speech fluency and communicative competence
- training and support for carers and professionals, which raises awareness and improves knowledge of communication and swallowing impairment
What to expect on your first appointment
Your first appointment will last up to an hour. The therapist will obtain a full history to establish the nature of your symptoms. They are likely to carry out assessments of your speech, language or swallowing. Following these assessments you are likely to be given advice. The therapist will discuss therapy options with you and arrange follow-up appointments as required.
Exclusion criteria
- Patients not registered with a GP in the Dartford Gravesham and Swanley CCG or Swale CCG localities
- Patients under the age of 18 years
- Patients with a primary diagnosis of mental ill health
- Patients do not receive complex treatments in nursing homes
- Adults with a diagnosed Learning Disability
- DGS patients with head and neck cancer (seen by Macmillan SaLT at Darent Valley Hospital)
- Swale patients with a new stroke diagnosis (seen by Medway Stroke Team)