NELFT Havering Adult Speech and Language Team and the Havering Place based Partnership’s project ‘One Voice’ was highly commended last night for the Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year award at the annual HSJ awards. There were only 26 awards and 26 high commendations out of over 1350 entries.

The project, One Voice, grew out of the pandemic when outpatient departments were closed and the adult speech therapy team were required to find an alternative way to provide care to people after a laryngectomy – a small, but very vulnerable group. 

The team established what they believe is the UK’s first comprehensive, domiciliary service for people after a laryngectomy.  

Speech and language therapy intervention involves invasive procedures in the airway and therefore services are usually restricted to the acute setting. Offering care in the home led to new collaborative opportunities and overwhelming positive feedback from patients and staff.  

One Voice has led to more timely post-discharge appointments, identification of key issues in post-surgical adjustment, codesign of a holistic communication assessment, and codesign of a training and support programme for primary care colleagues.  

This project demonstrates how even small clinical teams can work with system partners to create significant and complex change to improve outcomes, and patient/staff experience. 

Rhiannon Haag, Interim Directorate AHP Professional Lead, said:

“We are very proud of this innovation and believe it can inspire not only others working in cancer care to develop community services for patients, but also people working with other population groups who may undergo surgery as part of their treatment pathway.”

The full list of winners for the 2024 HSJ awards can be found at Winners 2024 | HSJ Awards