The NHS is committed to making £15-20 billion efficiency savings by 2014, and this program of spending cuts continues.

This alters the roles of all healthcare professionals, and reduces the availability of funding to implement technology-based solutions and value-added services. Services are increasingly focused on prevention and an overall influence on the levels of need, rather than intervention. This is related to cost pressures.

Proposed workforce impact

• There are changes to the professional roles of SLTs.
• There is possible impact on commissioned SLTs.
• Changes to skill mix and designs to service take place.
• A more flexible workforce may be needed in a redesigned service.

Sources or references

• http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/feb/06/speech-therapy-spending-cuts
• http://www.improvement.nhs.uk/Default.aspx?alias=www.improvement.nhs.uk/qipp

Additional research questions

• What changes to services have already taken place, and what has the impact of such changes been on service users?
• What is the outlook for non-NHS SLT services?

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.