AssessmentThe Assessment Team travels the North of England visiting potential communication aid users.
We work closely with users, families and local teams. Some assessments involve more than one visit.
We visit people where they would prefer to meet us:
- At Home
- At school
- In hospitals and hospices
- At work
- Other locations.
We have no commercial affiliations. Our assessment is:
- Objective and
- Independent
We aim to find out if "AAC" (Augmentative and Alternative
Communication) would be of any benefit. When AAC offers a solution, we
aim to identify the most appropriate equipment for trial use or
immediate provision.
Towards the end of the visit, everyone needs to discuss and agree their roles in:
- Any further action
- Any equipment to be tried, supplied or purchased
- Any follow-up support
- Any review by the Communicate team
We detail the agreed recommendations in a report for the client or
parents. We send a copy to the GP, to a "key person" present at the
assessment and to others as agreed by the client or parents. We also
send a "Satisfaction Questionnaire" to the client/parent and "key
person" with the Assessment Report.
If you want to know more about what happens on an Assessment Visit,
please see the
Pre-Assessment Information Page
We are pleased to report a high level of satisfaction with the
Visiting Assessment Service. In the past, people have been dissatisfied
with the waiting time for "trial use" equipment following assessment.
This problem has been resolved, due to extra, recurring funding from
the NHS Specialist Services Commissioning Group covering the North of
England.
Assessment Team Members:
- Joanne Anderson
Specialist Occupational Therapist
- Karen Lewis
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
- Liz Scott-Tatum
Specialist Occupational Therapist
Most Assessment Visits also involve a
Technical Specialist from the Regional Technical Aid Service
(part of Regional Medical Physics).
Related information:
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