Terms and conditions
In this document the terms ‘I’ and ‘Therapist’ refer to Louise Gawthorn, Speech and Language Therapist, MASLTIP, Director of Speech Sense Limited. The term ‘parent/guardian/carer’ refers the person signing this agreement.
Working hours
My working hours are 9.30am – 2.30pm Tuesdays and Fridays. However, you are welcome to email me/leave messages other days as there may be occasions I can respond outside of these dedicated working times and days.
Location and travel
Appointments will be offered in either your home or if more appropriate, in your child’s nursery or school. I work in the Berkshire area. The first 10 miles in any direction that I travel from my home in Hurst, Reading are free. Thereafter mileage will be charged at 50 pence per mile.
role of parent/guardian
Therapy is most effective when parents, teaching assistants, teachers observe sessions. This ensures greater understanding of how therapy is helping your child and develops additional confidence and skills in carrying out ideas in the home and school environment. If this is not feasible, brief feedback will be given via a homework book.
It is expected that a parent is present throughout the session when this is in the home.
It is expected that a Teaching Assistant is present throughout the session when this takes place in a nursery or school setting. Parents may also attend school therapy sessions and be present for feedback and meetings.
fees and services
I do not offer services in the area of second opinions, tribunals, medico-legal work/reports, EHCP reports.
Fees for the main services I offer are listed below. Any child being seen for the first time would require an initial assessment (see options below), even if they have been assessed by a previous Speech and Language Therapist. If therapy sessions are advised following an initial appointment, I would offer guidelines as to the frequency and structure of these sessions.
Initial assessment appointments:
All initial assessment appointments include gathering background information with the parent/carer, informal/formal assessment with the child if appropriate and verbal feedback towards the end of the appointment about findings and any recommendations.
Initial assessments at home typically last 75 minutes. Initial assessments at school take longer due to additional liaison time with teaching staff. Fees are adjusted to reflect this. Location of assessment will be discussed with you and will depend on what the current concerns are.
Home Appointment -no report/programme: £90. Home Appointment with short summary report OR programme: £130
School Appointment -no report/programme: £120. School Appointment with short summary report OR programme: £160
At times, initial assessments take longer than 75 minutes. This will depend on the age of the child and the complexity of the difficulties and situation. If a further, initial assessment session of up to 60 minutes is required, then the fee for this will be £80 and will be discussed with you at the end of the first initial assessment session.
Therapy sessions: £75
This will be approximately 50 minutes of face to face time with the child and accompanying adult. In addition, time will be spent before the appointment preparing for the session and afterwards for writing up. Where appropriate, at the end of each session materials & activities will be provided for parents/education staff to practice therapy targets.
If circumstances arise where it is felt appropriate to have shorter or longer therapy sessions, then this will be agreed between the therapist and parent/guardian and fees will be adjusted accordingly.
Review appointment/assessments: £80
This would be following a break in contact/sessions of at least two months and the child must have already been seen by me for an initial assessment. This will take around 60 minutes. This appointment does not include a report or written advice. Please see below for fees relating to reports and written advice.
Reports/written advice:
Reports, programmes and target sheets can be requested at any time and the price will vary from £30 - £150 depending on the time involved in producing the document and the type of information required. The fee will be discussed and agreed prior to commencing the report/programme/target sheet.
Meetings: £80
Up to 60 minutes. Meetings lasting longer would be charged at £20 for each additional 15 minutes.
Telephone discussions:
The first 10 minutes are free for parents/carers wishing to arrange/change appointments, etc.
The first 15 minutes are free for parents/carers making initial, informal contact with any inquiries.
Thereafter a fee of £5 per 10 minutes will be charged following the phone call, which should be paid in full within 14 days of the date on the invoice.
If a telephone call to another professional (such as an NHS SLT or teacher) is required, then fees will be discussed prior to the phone call/visit but are based on the above rate of £5 per 10 minutes.
payment
Payment should be prior to or on the day of the appointment. Failure to do so could lead to the appointment being cancelled by the therapist. The preferred method of payment is bank transfer. However, if unable to use this method, then cash is also accepted.
Invoices for telephone calls must be paid within 14 days of the date of the invoice.
Session rates are regularly reviewed and may be subject to change at any time.
Failed/missed payments
If payment is not made in line with the terms and conditions above then the therapist has the right to cancel any arranged appointments.
If after one reminder, payment is still not received, and alternative arrangements have not been agreed in writing between the therapist and parent/guardian, then debt collection proceedings may be commenced.
Cancellation
It is expected that all parties will give as much notice as possible if a session needs to be cancelled/rearranged. If the therapist needs to change an appointment, then this will be rearranged for the earliest mutually convenient date.
The therapist reserves the right to terminate services at any time. Where payments have been made in advance and the therapist has not seen the child for the appointment which has been pre-paid for, then the full fee will be reimbursed to the parent/guardian.
If a session is cancelled by a parent/guardian with at least 48 hours notice, then no fee will be charged. If a session is cancelled by a parent/guardian with less than 48 hours notice, the full fee of the session will be charged. It is at the digression of the therapist to waver this fee if she feels the circumstances of the cancellation are extenuating.
If the therapist arrives for the appointment but a session cannot take place and no prior notice has been given (e.g. a child is unwell or not in the right frame of mind for the appointment), then the full fee of the session will be charged, including any travel costs incurred. It is at the discretion of the therapist to waver this fee if she feels the circumstances of the cancellation are extenuating.
If it has been agreed with the therapist that a visit to an educational setting is appropriate, then it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to let the therapist know if the session needs to be cancelled/rearranged.
Liaising with other professionals
To ensure that everyone who is working with your child is aware of their progress, it is recommended that I liaise with others. This may include your child’s NHS Speech & Language Therapist, education or medical staff. You will be asked to give your permission for this. Parents will be required to sign a copy of the Terms and Conditions indicating their agreement prior to the initial assessment appointment.
Discharge criteria
A child will be discharged when:
· They are at a level that is within the broad average range for their age
· They are no longer responding to therapy
· They have significantly improved and are likely to progress without further intervention or support
· The therapist feels it is appropriate to cease therapy
· The parent/guardian decides to cease therapy for their child
· Fees are not paid
Concerns/complaints
If you have any concerns, please direct them to me in the first instance and hopefully we can resolve any issues together. If however, you do not feel this is the case, and you wish to instigate a formal complaint, then you can contact the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice for further advice.
use of video/photographs
Some assessment and therapy techniques involve the use of video and/or photographs of your child. For example, videoing your child saying certain sounds so they can listen back to themselves and self-monitor their own progress with the production of those sounds.
Data Protection/privacy Policy
The ‘Privacy Policy’ document below sets out Speech Sense Limited's policy in relation to the holding and using of information about you and your child which may be obtained from you or other sources during your treatment. This is in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR 2018. Please read it before signing below.
declaration
I consent to Louise Gawthorn, Speech and Language Therapist, sharing relevant verbal and written information about my child with appropriate professionals. This includes the use of emails. These professionals may include Education staff, Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, GPs, etc. YES/NO
I consent to my email address and telephone number being used to contact me and share relevant documents.
YES/NO
I consent to my child being videoed/photographed as necessary in my child’s speech and language therapy sessions as described above. YES/NO
I have read and understood the attached Privacy Policy & consent to Louise Gawthorn/Speech Sense Ltd processing my and my child’s information in this manner and for the purposes stated in the policy. I also agree to all the terms and conditions set out in this document. YES/NO
Parent/carer signature: …………………………………………………………… Date……………….………………
Print Name:……………………………………………………………………………..
Signed:…………………………………………………………………………………….. Date:……………………………….
Louise Gawthorn, Speech and Language Therapist, BSc (Hons), MRCSLT, MASLTIP
Privacy Policy
This should be read in conjunction with Speech Sense’s terms and conditions. We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.
Who are we?
Speech Sense Limited (Ltd) is owned and run by Louise Gawthorn, an independent Speech and Language Therapist, who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a member of RCSLT and ASLTIP. Louise is a registered data controller with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Louise controls and processes all personal information for Speech Sense Ltd. Louise operates a website at www.speechsense.co.uk
Speech Sense Ltd. is registered with Companies House: 120381459.
Speech Sense does not employ agents to process personal data. We do not give or sell client details to any third parties. We only collect data relevant to our role and for accounting purposes.
What kinds of personal information will Speech Sense Ltd collect? And how will it be collected?
Here are some examples of personal information which may be collected via spoken or written (including email) sources from parents/carers. With parental consent this information may also be collected from other professionals working with your child (e.g. teachers, NHS Speech and Language Therapists, GPs):
· Child’s name, age, date of birth, home address, medical history, educational details, speech and language history, developmental milestones.
· Parent/carer names, phone numbers, email addresses, home address, family history of any communication/learning difficulties.
· Family set up e.g. who lives with your child and languages spoken.
· Information relevant to educational settings (e.g. recent test scores).
· Video recordings/photographs of parent and/or child for assessment and therapy purposes.
You may use the Speech Sense website without providing any personal information. However, if you wish to make an enquiry via the website you will requested to provide relevant contact details, such as your name, email address and contact telephone number to enable us to respond to your enquiry. You may add comments or queries which might also contain personal information.
How do we use personal information?
Personal information is used to:
· prepare, plan and provide speech and language therapy services appropriate for your child’s needs.
· communicate with parents and other relevant professionals/people known to the child where parents have previously given consent, via post, email, phone, SMS for activities such as: booking appointments, sending password-protected child relevant documents, general communication between appointments, invoices and resources
· complete audits
· communicate with others if this is required by the law (e.g. safeguarding concerns). This is the only time personal information will be shared with relevant professionals without permission from parents/carers.
Whenever personal identifiers are not needed for the tasks above, if possible, we will remove them from the information we use (e.g. using a child’s initial letter only instead of their full/first name).
What is the lawful basis for processing personal information?
Our lawful basis for processing and storing personal information is one of ‘legitimate interest’ under article 6 of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018. We cannot adequately deliver a service to your child without processing their personal data.
Information relating to an individual’s health is classified as ‘Special Category Data’ under section 9 of the GDPR. The regulations stipulate that health professionals who are “legally bound to professional secrecy” may have a lawful basis for processing this data. Speech and Language Therapists are legally bound to keep client information confidential and it is under this condition that personal information is stored and processed.
How does Speech Sense Ltd store personal information?
We store personal information in paper and electronic formats.
Paper information is held in a paper file. Electronic information is held on a password-protected computer and/or hard drive. All information is kept in a lockable filing cabinet/s in a secure location. A work mobile phone with personal data on e.g. phone numbers and text messages, is also kept in a lockable cabinet. If any personal information is taken away from the lockable filing cabinet and office base, it will be kept with the Speech and Language Therapist (Louise Gawthorn) or in a locked location.
Videos may be taken of clients with parental consent. These are temporarily stored on an electronic device and transferred to a password protected computer or deleted.
In accordance with our professional standards we are required to keep records securely until the child’s 25th birthday. After this time all records relating to your child will be destroyed.
How does Speech Sense Ltd keep personal information confidential and secure?
· By using password protected documents and hard drives.
· By using virus software.
· By keeping up to date with information from ICO and other relevant organisations.
· By locking up information when it is not in use and storing the key for filing cabinets in a hidden location.
· By completing audits.
· By reviewing and updating policies.
What are my rights?
· Your rights are set out in full in the GDPR (2018) information with the ICO.
· You have the right to withdraw permission at any time and to ask for a record to be amended if the data is inaccurate e.g. changing a home address. However, because information is processed on the legal basis of ‘legitimate interest’, it is not possible to request erasure of personal information.
· You have the right to request a copy of the personal information that is held about you and your child. This request should be made in writing. This is called a Subject Access Request and it is free of charge. All requests will be processed and completed within 30 days of receipt.
Who should we contact for further information/questions?
You can contact Louise Gawthorn by:
Email: louise@speechsense.co.uk Telephone: 07733 688030
Please note that this Privacy Policy is likely to be updated as further information and advice becomes available about the GDPR (2018) from the ICO.