Angela Crocker, Lead Clinical Speech and Language Therapist, Belfast Trust
Angela Crocker, was invited to join the Local Adult Safeguarding Partnership (LASP), a multi-agency, including service users, police, private, voluntary and health and social care staff across all adult services - because of her reputation for championing the necessity to adapt information to make it accessible to people with communication difficulties, and her skills as a SLT in doing this in consultation with users of services.
“I have always felt passionately that information needs to be accessible and have been involved in producing many easy read information resources. I believe that SLTs have unique skills in adapting information to make it accessible to people with communication difficulties.”
Angela further explained her inclusive communication role:
“As a SLT I am trained to work directly with service users and there is a dilemma when moving away from this role to a less client facing inclusive communication leadership role. I have been given the opportunity to have protected time to lead on inclusive communication projects which have benefited a wide group of people with communication difficulties.
“I believe that SLTs often have to justify their time when it is not face to face, however reorganising priorities and investing this time has had a far reaching impact and improved the lives of people with communication difficulties.”
Initially, her involvement was to lead on the creation of an easy read resource to describe the safeguarding process using accessible information standards and clear images to support the understanding of key concepts. Widespread consultation about content and
RCSLT - CQ Live 2016 Inclusive Communication - case study

format took place with service users and professionals across all Trust service areas and with all the agencies represented on the LASP. This included mental health, learning disability, older people and physical health and disability services.
The information sheets are designed to support staff to explain adult safeguarding processes to service users who have been victims of suspected or actual abuse. They may also be useful in explaining processes to carers.
The police and social workers found the leaflets extremely useful and highlighted the need to develop further information sheets to explain support available in court and special measures. These further information sheets were developed and added to the resource.
This success of the information sheets led to Angela being invited to work with a small project team to develop an accessible abuse training package for all adult service users.
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Phase one trained staff to deliver training and has been running successfully across all adult services for the last couple of years.
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Phase two focused on training service users to co- facilitate and co-deliver training.
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Phase three is looking at the extension of the training into community, partnership services and hard to reach groups.
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Phase four The LASP group are also hoping to introduce a phase four looking at people who are transitioning from children to adult services.
The co-directors in mental health, learning disability, older people and physical health and disability services are supporting the implementation of this strategy across adult service areas.
Angela has taken her skills in supporting people with a learning disability and extended and transferred these to a wider group of people with varied support needs.
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Social workers and police working with vulnerable people who had been the victim of crime reported that the leaflets helped breakdown a complex process, supporting and empowering the vulnerable person.
“When I go to see someone and have completed my assessment there is always a relevant leaflet which clearly and simply goes through the next steps of the safeguarding process. The leaflets help support and empower the vulnerable person with communication needs to be involved.”
Suzanne Smith, Registered Intermediary
RCSLT - CQ Live 2016 Inclusive Communication - case study

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The resource was sent to the Northern Ireland Adult Safeguarding Partnership group
(NIASP) and were agreed and endorsed as a resource for use across Northern Ireland.
“Vulnerable victims need particular support during their engagement with the criminal justice system. The Department of Justice is grateful to the Belfast Trust’s Local Adult
Safeguarding Partnership for developing the Easy read leaflets. The suite of leaflets is an excellent opportunity for the Department to raise awareness of the range of support available, such as Registered Intermediaries who assist vulnerable adults with significant communication difficulties to tell the police and courts what happened to them. In knowing that additional help is available, it is hoped that more vulnerable victims will report offences and have access to justice.”
Norma Dempster, Vulnerable Witness Policy Lead, Department of Justice.
 The project has made all stakeholders aware of the value of accessible information and its importance to other groups wider than those with a learning disability.
“They really help with aiding service users’ understanding of the adult safeguarding process, are useful in assessing the ability of the service user to participate in the ABE process and are valuable in the preparation and planning for the ABE interview itself”.
Orla McCreary, Senior Practitioner
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It has highlighted the unique role that SLT can play in supporting Inclusive
Communication at a service and population level as well as individual level.
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The valuable role SLT has played within safeguarding has led to a request for SLT to remain as part of the LASP group and to extend the role to represent all Allied Health
Professionals.
There have been many requests for SLT to lead on the development of other accessible resources including complaints information, hospital discharge information, smoke free policy, Abdominal and Aortic Aneurysm service. There is currently no funded service in
Belfast Trust.
However, as Angela explains:
“Though we are not directly funded to do this work we see it as part of our core business.
We work with staff and service users to build awareness, capacity and skills to make information and communication accessible. We are the specialists in this area and in working with one part of an organisation we can influence others because they can see it makes a difference. Ultimately this will mean that the people we work with on an individual level i.e. people with varied communication support needs will be included, empowered and get better access to services and opportunities.”
Angela’s manager, Rosalind Kyle, fully supports Angela’s involvement in inclusive communication:
RCSLT - CQ Live 2016 Inclusive Communication - case study

“SLTs work to improve the quality of a person’s life and contribute to the overall health and wellbeing. To ensure people with communication difficulties are fully supported and that all communication tools, techniques and technology are freely available, the SLT needs to take different roles.
She added: “This means time may be well utilised in developing resources that can be used by many, raising awareness and skills in MDTs, and in evaluation and research.
The learning disability services and the population of people in Belfast Trust have been greatly enhanced by the work of the SLT not only on direct contacts with clients but on all aspects of inclusive communication.”
Contact: Angela Crocker, angela.crocker@belfasttrust.hscni.net.
RCSLT - CQ Live 2016 Inclusive Communication - case study