Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service – Halton

General introduction

We work with adults (usually aged 18 and over) who have communication and / or swallowing difficulties.

You may need to see a speech and language therapist if you have concerns about:

your communication (speech clarity, understanding what others say and expressing yourself)
your swallow (difficulties swallowing food or drink)
your voice (changes to your voice which concern you)

We provide assessment and therapy to reduce the impact that a communication or swallowing problem has on a person’s health, wellbeing, and independence, so that they can participate in daily life as fully as possible.

Communication difficulties may occur for a range of reasons including having:

a stroke
a traumatic brain injury
a brain tumour
dementia
cancer
neurological conditions, including Motor neurone disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s disease

Symptoms vary from person to person. They may include slurred speech, difficulty understanding language, or challenges finding the right words.

Where we provide the service:

selected inpatient wards at Halton Hospital - usually before patients are discharged to go home from hospital or to their usual place of care
in people's own homes as well as residential an nursing homes across Halton when people are unable to attend clinic
outpatient appointments at a number of locations in Runcorn and Widnes
- Castlefields Health Centre, Runcorn
- St Paul’s Health Centre, Runcorn
- Millbrow Clinic, Widnes
- Hallwood Health Centre, Runcorn
- Halton Hospital, Runcorn

Voice service

We also offer a specialist voice service for Halton residents who have been referred by ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists for assessment and management of voice difficulties.

How to access this service

The Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service operates an open referral process, which means anyone aged 18 and over, registered with a GP in Runcorn or Widnes can refer to us.

You can make a referral by phone, post or email using the details in the ‘Contact us’ section on this page.

If you are referring by post or email, please complete and send us the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service referral form.

Before submitting your referral form, please check it to ensure you have included all the information required.

If you have any questions about the referral process, please contact our office.

After you have made a referral

If we have received and accepted your referral, you will be added to our waiting list. We will send you an email to confirm receipt of your referral and a member of the team will contact you to arrange an appointment.

We aim to make contact with high priority patients within 10 working days. All other swallow and / or communication patients should be seen within 13 weeks of referral but will be prioritised according to risk rating. If you feel you need to be seen sooner, please contact us.

Appointments are available Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays. Where possible, we offer flexible appointment times, and appointments may last up to one hour.

About the team

We are a team of speech and language therapists and therapy assistants.

Useful information