Speech and Language Therapy
Voice Service
The Voice Service provides assessment, advice and treatment to all adults living within BaNES, or who have a BaNES GP, who are experiencing difficulty with their voice or require treatment or advice to improve their voice for a specific reason.
The following list demonstrates some areas where voice therapy can be effective:
- Muscle tension dysphonia (vocal strain)
- Transgender voice
- Vocal nodules
- Vocal fold paralysis
- Voice changes associated with reflux
- Psychogenic voice disorders
- Globus / persistent throat clearing
Opening times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday service
9am – 12.30pm (on the above days)
How to Refer
Voice Referrals:
- Voice referrals can only be accepted from an ENT consultant who has assessed a person within the last 6 months, or from the GP following an ENT assessment
- We are unable to accept self-referrals
- We are unable to accept referrals for a person who has seen ENT in the past but this has been longer than 6 months prior to the new referral being made
Treatment
When referred, the person will be placed onto a waiting list and offered an appointment as soon as possible. Intervention and treatment will consist of:
- Detailed assessment of the persons' difficulties which may consider aspects of voice
such as: - The presenting issue
- Medical and social history, exploring environmental impacts on the voice
- Posture, movement, general health, tension
- Breathing
- Assessing voice quality
- Loudness, pitch, resonance and articulation
- How the voice difficulty is impacting upon daily life
- Detailed explanation of voice and how it is produced, with reference to the specific difficulty
- Targeted therapy designed to improve the identified areas of voice difficulty or specific needs of the individual Assessment may involve instrumental techniques for recording and analysing the voice in detail
Individuals may require an assessment and advice only or require a number of treatment sessions. A review system is also in place to ensure people are monitored and offered further treatment if required.
Discharging from the Service
Individuals are discharged from the SLT Voice service for the following reasons:
- They have achieved all of their goals
- No further intervention is required, for example, the person has reached their maximum potential
- They fail to attend an appointment and do not contact the SLT service
- They are not participating in the recommended therapy programme
An initial report will be written following assessment and sent to the referrer, GP and individual. A discharge summary will be written if appropriate following therapy and sent to their GP and referrer for information.