The Campaign to Save the Nuffield Speech and Language Unit

Introduction

Parents of children currently attending the Nuffield Unit, together with parents of children who have attended the Unit in the past, are mounting a campaign to oppose the closure plans.

The most important contribution that anyone can make is to find extra children to attend the unit: if the numbers attending or waiting to attend increase, then the financial justification for closing the unit weakens. It could be argued that there is insufficient time left at the start of the consultation to be able to assess new children and obtain funding (the average delay in obtaining funding is about 6 months, although some cases go through much faster). A strong interest in the unit and a list of children applying for funding would nevertheless form the basis of an argument for retaining the unit in some form.

One of the primary aims of the campaign is therefore to publicise the unit as widely as possible amongst G.P.s, hospital consultants, speech and language therapists and parents of children with severe / complex speech and language difficulties who live within the catchment area of the Unit. Any local help with this would be appreciated. Given the delays involved in referrals and obtaining funding, time is of the essence! Note also that the numbers are currently such that every extra child given an offer of a place in the Unit can make a significant difference to the outcome of the consultation.

If you do come across a family whose child who might benefit from the treatment offered by the unit, please refer them to this web site. It is important to be frank about the current uncertainty over the Unit's future, but at the same time to offer advice and encouragement. The Nuffield Unit is not closed yet!

The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust has a large debt, and is struggling to achieve Foundation status. The chief executive is making extensive cuts to services and imposing a rigorous and immediate policy of financial balance to each individual part of the Trust's operations. We know that the Nuffield unit has been full or oversubscribed for each of the last five years, and that it has made a net contribution to the finances of its parent hospital. The campaign is searching for ideas and initiatives that will return the Unit to profitability and thus help the Royal Free Hampstead Trust to reduce its debt without closing the Unit. Someone has to show some initiative: we can't leave the future of such an important unit to the care of mere managers or accountants who can only cut services!

Problems During Consultation?

If anyone experiences difficulties during the consultation period, please notify us. We are especially concerned to know if anyone has difficulty in obtaining any information that they might need (such as copies of documents, details of meetings, information requested from the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust etc.). It is important to ensure that the consultation is of the highest quality, and that it is run correctly. Any problems should be brought to the notice of the Scrutiny Committee (see contact details section).

Communications

We believe that it is very important that everyone involved in the consultation and the campaign should have full information at all times, and that all communications are open and clear. To this end we would encourage everyone to send us copies of correspondence, responses to the consultation and relevant information (assuming that it is not of a personal nature). We may post some of this information on the web site, so please indicate if this would be permissible or not.

Sections of this Site

The site contains separate areas under the Campaign menu which outline our efforts in the areas of:

• Publicity and raising awareness of the unit

• Practical proposals for the future

• Campaign Activity and News

We would appreciate contributions for all these areas, as well as advice from suitably qualified professionals, especially those with legal, accountancy and public relations skills.

In addition, the site will contain notes taken at the public meetings held as part of the consultation process. Please contribute your notes, thoughts or relevant documents.

One of the aims of the campaign is to provide a complete and detailed record of all events, correspondence and documents surrounding the Nuffield Unit and it proposed closure. We would appreciate receiving copies of any non-confidential documents or correspondence that is relevant, along with an indication of whether or not the material may be posted on the web site.