Fundraisers use their ‘head’ to improve care for patients who have difficulty swallowing
A head and throat-shaped training model, designed to help improve care for patients at Broomfield Hospital who have problems swallowing, has been kindly donated by the Friends of Broomfield.
They have been regular supporters and fundraisers for the hospital for over 70 years, with this latest equipment costing £2,330, which will allow clinical staff within the Speech and Language Therapy department to further build on their skills in evaluating a patient’s swallowing.
Patients can develop swallowing problems for several reasons, including after a stroke, in the later stages of dementia or following mouth and throat cancer. Speech and Language Therapists provide patients with individual therapy recovery programmes to help improve and support both their communication and swallowing difficulties.
Lisa Ferrary, Highly Specialised Speech and Language Therapist for the department, said: “Having this device means we’ll be able to better train people to tell whether it is safe or not for a patient to eat or drink and to then recommend suitable foods, drinks and exercise to improve their swallow.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Friends at Broomfield for their funding of this equipment, it will make a huge positive difference to our patients.”