Our Top Resources

l-r Jodie McCord, Eryl Evans, Ruth Best with workstations (no.8)

l-r Sister Taylor and Angela

ERYL EVANS, JODIE MCCORD AND RUTH BEST ARE SPECIALIST SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPISTS WORKING IN ENT AND HEAD AND NECK CANCER. ERYL AND JODIE WORK WITH PEOPLE WITH VOICE DISORDERS AND THOSE WITH HEAD AND NECK CANCER, WHEREAS RUTH IS THE FIRST MACMILLAN SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPIST APPOINTED IN WALES, AND WORKS IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER ONCOLOGY. THEY ARE BASED AT SINGLETON HOSPITAL, SWANSEA, PART OF THE ABERTAWE BRO MORGANNWG UNIVERSITY NHS TRUST, PROVIDING SERVICES FOR SOUTH WEST WALES. THEY ARE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS WORKING IN THESE AREAS.
1. Angela, our Secretary Angela types, takes messages, files, and generally organises us. We simply couldnt do our jobs without her. Within the hospital there are also a number of other friendly hospital administration staff who facilitate us booking our patients in for reviews in all clinics, including short notice access to casualty clinics, and joint appointments with medical colleagues even if the clinics are full! 2. Each other This is perhaps our most valuable asset. Working as a small specialist team enables us to work closely alongside each other, supporting and learning with and from each other. It is a particular luxury for Eryl after years of working in isolation. 3. Enthusiastic medical colleagues Our enthusiastic medical colleagues are focused not only on achieving a cure, but also upon functional outcomes. Within our head and neck cancer multidisciplinary team, we work with both ENT surgeons and oncologists who are keen and willing to work collaboratively. We also value highly our specialist radiologists who provide us with an endless stream of education within the multidisciplinary team setting. Anatomical models (Adam 4. Rouilly) We find anatomical models simply invaluable for teaching and providing informative counselling to patients and relatives. We can no longer count the number of times a patient has said things like, Now are you talking about the little flap you showed me on the model (in reference to the epiglottis). Anatomical models are well worth the relatively high cost, being robust and well constructed. We use the larynx model (ref. ML11) and head and neck model (ref. MN6) daily. www.adam-rouilly.co.uk 5. Cancerbackup / Macmillan Cancer Support booklets We find these booklets provide balanced and accurate information, which supports the education provided by members of our multidisciplinary team when discussing diagnosis and treatment options. Many patients report using these for finding answers to those questions they think of in the middle of the night. Thanks to Cancerbackup merging recently with Macmillan, their booklets are now available to all free of charge. www.cancerbackup.org.uk 6. Portable clinic trolley Our trolley is a plastic six drawer unit on castors that is full of all the bits and pieces needed in a head and neck cancer clinic voice prostheses, HMEs (humidification and moisture exchange devices for tracheostomy tubes), tubes, headlights, brushes and adhesives. It is easy to negotiate down the corridors, and saves our feet running back to the speech and language therapy department for crucial pieces of equipment. www.littlewoods.com 7. PC with internet connection and EndNote From one shared computer to needing one PC per person, the technological revolution has transformed the amount of information required and available. There are excellent anatomical CD ROMs such as Interactive Head & Neck (www.primalpictures.com) available, as well as DVDs and a wealth of internet sites for teaching and continuing professional development resources. EndNote bibliographic software creates bibliographies and citations and organises references and images in a database, making it quick and easy to insert references into reports, articles and other documents (www. adeptscience.co.uk). We use a shared network drive which enables shared access to resources across the wider speech and language therapy department, and when working in different clinical areas. Access to radiology images on the digital Picture Archival and Communication System (PACS) is also invaluable. 8. Our KayPENTAX stacks Suddenly we are in the 21st century after two extremely generous donations! Our KayPENTAX Digital Video Stroboscopy and Digital Swallowing Workstations have made a dramatic difference to the quality of the assessment and therapy that we can provide to both our voice and swallowing patients. This equipment enables us to perform high quality instrumental assessments and incorporate biofeedback into our therapy programmes. Feedback from patients thus far has been very positive indeed. www.kaypentax.com/Product%20Info/ Strobe%20Systems/9295.htm www.kaypentax.com/Product%20Info/7200/7200. htm 9. Sister Janet Taylor Our outpatient department ENT sister unfortunately retires in April 2009, and we are missing her already! She has been instrumental in ensuring that we have shared resources with ENT allowing us access to use of clinical examination rooms, equipment, instruments and nursing support for difficult voice prosthesis changes. What will we do without her? 10. A great patient group who constantly surprise us with their ability to cope with the unthinkable. They make us laugh with their stories, and sad with their losses. Without them, our working lives would be considerably more demanding and definitely less entertaining.