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Review of Communication Equipment

The Minster for Health and Social Services agreed that the review of Communication Equipment should be submitted for further scrutiny by an expert panel drawn from Health, Education and Social Services both within Welsh Government and Local Health Boards and local authorities with a view testing the proposed service model together with options for funding.

Date of decision / Dyddiad y penderfyniad:

8 May 2012

Statement of information / Datganiad gwybodaeth:

The submission invites the Minister to submit the report on the review of communication aids for scrutiny by an expert panel to examine the proposed service model and options for funding.

Communication aids are tools for everyday living. Some are low tech, such as communication books and symbol boards. Others are high tech electronic devices. These are often called ‘talkers’, ‘voice output communication aids’ (VOCA for short) or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. People who have no speech, limited speech or impaired speech use these devices to communicate their wishes and thoughts to others.

Specialized AAC services deliver high cost, low volume interventions that aim to restore a degree of communication for severely or profoundly communication impaired people. Communication impaired people in this context means those adults and children who have an impairment that impacts on their ability to communicate through speech and/or language or written communication.

Communication impairment may result from physical, sensory, intellectual, learning or cognitive disabilities.  This would include children born with communication impairment (for example and in no order of precedence, those resulting from cerebral palsy, developmental disorders and learning disabilities such as autism and children and adults who become communication impaired (for example through stroke, cancer, brain, and spinal injury and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s , Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis or Motor Neurone Disease).

The report has identified problems with the provision of high tech communication equipment. The reasons relate to its specialist nature, the shortage of people with the appropriate expertise, the low numbers requiring it and their broad dispersal throughout Wales. This  means that local health boards or local authorities have limited expertise and the All Wales Service based at Rockwood is presently under resourced to provide the support required. 
 
The report has identified a range of actions designed to improve the service. The main recommendation is the development of a ‘hub and spoke’ model  with the All Wales Electronic Assistive Technology Service based at Rockwood providing the ‘hub’ of expertise supporting the spokes which would consist of local speech and language therapists and occupational therapists with appropriate training and support. 

The Minister has been invited to submit the report to scrutiny by an expert panel to examine the service model proposed and options for funding.