Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

Last updated
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
PredecessorCollege of Speech Therapists
Founded1945
Legal statusCharity
Location
  • 2-3 White Hart Yard, London, SE1 1NX, United Kingdom
Membership (2022-2023)
20,000
Key people

Patron: The Duchess of Edinburgh
President: Nick Hewer
CEO: Steve Jamieson
Current Chair of the Board of Trustees: Dr Sean Pert
Website www.rcslt.org

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (abbreviated as RCSLT) is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the United Kingdom and is a registered charity. It was established on 6 January 1945 to promote the study of speech therapy in the UK, to seek improvement and maintain a high standard of knowledge and to unite all members of the profession. The RCSLT’s current patron is the Duchess of Edinburgh. The RCSLT has offices in Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London. [1]

Contents

History

The RCSLT was founded in 1945 as the College of Speech Therapists (CST), after the amalgamation of the Association of Speech Therapists and the British Society of Speech Therapists in 1944. [2] In 1945, CST fellows and licentiates were granted application[ clarification needed ] to the Register of Medical Auxiliaries. By 1955, the College had withdrawn from the register and published its own member directory. Its first patron, in 1948, was King George VI, who received speech therapy for his stammer. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother continued this support after his death in 1952 and become the college's patron in 1959. [3]

In 1990, speech therapists changed their name and title to "speech and language therapists". [4] The college was awarded the right to call itself the 'Royal College' of Speech and Language Therapists in 1995. The Duchess of Edinburgh (the then Countess of Wessex) became the RCSLT patron in 2003 after the death of the Queen Mother in 2002. [2]

King George VI received speech therapy for his stammer. King George VI LOC matpc.14736 (cleaned).jpg
King George VI received speech therapy for his stammer.
Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue helped King George VI manage his stammer. Lionel Logue 2 crop.jpg
Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue helped King George VI manage his stammer.

Presidents

Chief Executive

Steve Jamieson MSc, BSc (Hons) RN became Chief Executive in April 2023 following the retirement of Kamini Gadhok after 23 years as RCSLT CEO

Work

The RCSLT is a professional membership body which promotes for the public benefit the art and science of speech and language therapy, meaning care for individuals with communication, swallowing, eating and drinking difficulties. [6]

Its stated professional aims are: to provide leadership and set professional standards for speech therapists in the UK; to facilitate and promote research into the field of speech and language therapy; to promote better education and training of speech and language therapists; to provide information for members and the public about speech and language therapy. [7]

Equal pay activism

One of the RCSLT's members, Dr. Pamela Enderby, was the lead claimant in a landmark legal case for equal pay in the NHS (see Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority). In 1986, she argued that her work and that of her colleagues, mostly women, was of equal value to clinical psychologists, who were predominantly men. Her employers said the difference in pay could be justified because the two groups bargain separately. [8] This claim launched the second-longest group action for equal pay for equal work since a 1985 claim by female canteen workers against British Coal. [9] The case involved twenty-six court appearances (including at the European Court of Justice), 2,000 applicants and sixteen test cases. [10]

The resulting compensation cost the government approximately £30 million in back-pay. The Enderby case led the then Labour government to institute a review of pay and grading scales throughout the health service in the form of the Agenda for Change. [10]

Membership

The membership in March 2022 was 20,000. Of this figure, 14,461 were UK practising members, 908 were UK nonpracticing members, 448 were retired, 314 were overseas, 1,105 were students, and 186 were associates. [11] The total figure had fallen from 17,468 at the end of March 2018. [12]

In a 2018 survey of its membership (to which 2,700 responded), the RCSLT found that the mean age of its members was 42 and that 73% were employed by the NHS; the remainder worked in independent practice (11%), schools (3%), local authorities (3%), universities (3%), and in other areas (7%). [13]

Membership of the RCSLT
YearTotal [11] [12]
201415,883
201516,681
201617,083
201717,083
201817,468
201917,422

Finances

In the financial year 2016–2017 the college had income of over £4.2 million and expenditure of over £4.3 million, [6] of which £3.3 million (79%) derived from membership income. [14]

Publications

The monthly membership magazine, Bulletin, is the official magazine of the RCSLT. [15] The magazine features the latest news, clinical articles, job adverts and other advertising.

The International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders is the RCSLT's international research journal.

Awards

Launched in 2010, the Giving Voice Awards celebrate organisations and individuals that have campaigned to highlight how speech and language therapy transforms lives and/or others who have made a significant contribution to improving the lives of people with communication and/or swallowing needs. [16] [17]

The Voice Box awards are an annual joke-telling competition for primary school children organised by the RCSLT. [18] In the 2018-19 competition over 5,000 schoolchildren took part in the competition, [19] and ten finalists took part in a live final in London. [20]

Related Research Articles

Agenda for Change (AfC) is the current National Health Service (NHS) grading and pay system for NHS staff, with the exception of doctors, dentists, apprentices and some senior managers. It covers more than 1 million people and harmonises their pay scales and career progression arrangements across traditionally separate pay groups, in the most radical change since the NHS was founded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech–language pathology</span> Disability therapy profession

Speech–language pathology (a.k.a. speech and language pathology or logopedics) is a healthcare and academic discipline concerning the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, including expressive and mixed receptive-expressive language disorders, voice disorders, speech sound disorders, speech disfluency, pragmatic language impairments, and social communication difficulties, as well as swallowing disorders across the lifespan. It is an allied health profession regulated by professional bodies including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. The field of speech-language pathology is practiced by a clinician known as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or a speech and language therapist (SLT). SLPs also play an important role in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often in collaboration with pediatricians and psychologists.

Debbie Sell, OBE, FRCSLT is a leading British speech and language therapist.

Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) is the national peak body for the speech pathology profession in Australia.

Muriel Elizabeth Morley OBE (1899–1993) was an English speech and language therapist who specialised in the management of cleft palate. She was the president of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne McAllister (speech therapist)</span> (1892–1983), Scottish speech therapist and teacher

Anne Hutchison McAllister was a leading Scottish speech therapist and teacher.

Pamela Mary Enderby, FRCSLT is a British Speech Therapist and Professor of Community Rehabilitation at the University of Sheffield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Bowen</span>

Caroline Bowen is a speech pathologist who was born in New Zealand, and who has lived and worked in Australia most of her life. She specialises in children's speech sound disorders. Her clinical career as a speech-language pathologist spanned 42 years from 1970 to 2011.

Kamini Gadhok is a British speech and language therapist. From 2000 to 2023, Gadhok served as the Chief Executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Sara Howard is a British speech therapist and Professor Emerita of Clinical Phonetics at the University of Sheffield.

Catherine Easton Renfrew,, was a British speech therapist.

Margaret Cicely Langton Greene OBE was a British speech and language therapist.

Gillian Dorothy Kennedy is a Consultant speech and language therapist specialising in neonates and paediatrics at University College Hospital.

Edna Butfield MBE was a British speech and language therapist and the Principal of West End Hospital Speech Therapy Training School, London. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 1950 and awarded the annual Honours of the RCSLT in 1982. In 1969 she was made a MBE in the 1969 New Year Honours list.

Catherine Hollingworth,, was a Scottish speech therapist and a pioneer of Child drama.

Sally Byng is a British speech and language therapist specialising in the treatment of aphasia, Chief executive of the Barnwood Trust, and Deputy lieutenant of Gloucestershire.

Della Money is a speech and language therapist and Chairperson of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Money is currently a consultant speech and language therapist with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Bryony Simpson is a British speech and language therapist.

Annalu Waller is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Dundee and leads the Augmentative and Alternate Communication (AAC) Research Group at the university.

Roganie Govender is a British-South African speech and language therapist. She is a consultant clinical academic speech and language therapist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

References

  1. ↑ "Join the RCSLT team – Current Vacancies". RCSLT. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  2. 1 2 "Introducing the RCSLT". Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Shawcross, W. (2009). Queen Elizabeth: The Queen Mother: the Official Biography. Pan Macmillan. p. 953.
  4. ↑ "History of the RCSLT". Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Three, two, one...broadcaster Nick Hewer appointed President of RCSLT". RCSLT. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Royal College Of Speech And Language Therapists: Data for financial year ending 31 March 2017". Charity Commission for England and Wales . Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Introducing the RCSLT". Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "PAY UP". Labour & European Law Review Weekly. 12 March 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Patricia Wynn Davies (3 April 1997). "Landmark victory for women in fight for equal pay". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Equal Pay". Tolpuddle Martyrs. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  11. 1 2 Money, Della; Gadhok, Kamini (September 2019). "The RCSLT IMPACT REPORT 2017-2018: Message from the RCSLT Chair and CEO". Bulletin: The Official Magazine of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. 808: 2–3.
  12. 1 2 Dorward, M.; Ghadok, K. (September 2018). "The RCSLT IMPACT REPORT 2017-2018: Message from the RCSLT Chair and CEO". Bulletin: The Official Magazine of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. 797: 2–3.
  13. ↑ Dorward, M.; Money, D. (September 2018). "Members first". Bulletin: The Official Magazine of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. 797: 20–21.
  14. ↑ "ROYAL COLLEGE OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPISTS TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2017" (PDF). Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "RCSLT Bulletin". Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "Giving Voice Awards". RCSLT.
  17. ↑ "Giving Voice Awards ceremony in Cardiff". NHS Humber Teaching. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  18. ↑ Sedgwick, D. (30 May 2019). "Ashington duo find their voice for comedy finals". News Post Leader. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  19. ↑ "Berkshire schoolgirl wins voice box comedy awards". RCSLT. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  20. ↑ "Voice Box Awards 2018-19: Wales' joke telling competition for primary school pupils". Jo Stevens MP. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

Further reading

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