Sheffield stammering service will close to adults next year

The closure is expected to impact 27 patients per year for dysfluency and 15 patients per year for cleft lip and palate as well as 32 dysfluency and 30 cleft lip and palate current patients who will likely need to transitioned to a new provider.

The adult dysfluency and cleft lip and palate service closed to new adult referrals in April following a review sparked by an increasing demand that was outstripping capacity. It happened before any consultation or quality and equality impact assessment.

The Trust decided to reinstate the service while these two pieces of work were undertaken following concerns raised during a Sheffield Council adult social care scrutiny committee.

The Trust has already served notice to cease providing the service from January 14, 2022 and said the transfer of current patients may need to move beyond then depending on the progress of consultation.

Its rationale was the speech and language therapy service was treating patients significantly outside of the Trust’s normal and extended age range, there was limited capacity, referrals were increasing by 7.8 percent each year and there was a lack of alignment with other therapy services for adults.

The council’s adult social care scrutiny committee will be presented an update on the situation at a meeting on Wednesday 29th that starts at 4pm.