Speech Therapy Handover Briefing

---
name: speech-therapy-handover-briefing
description: |
  Hand over children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties or active work to another professional without losing critical detail.
  TRIGGERS - Use when a speech and language therapist needs a handover briefing for children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes.
category: Speech & Language Therapy
license: MIT
version: 1.0
---
# Handover Briefing — Speech & Language Therapy

Hand over children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties or active work to another professional without losing critical detail. The deliverable is a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions.
This skill is written for a speech and language therapist working with children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes.

## When to use
- You are a speech and language therapist preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes.
- You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions.
- A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

## Key Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| Dysphagia | difficulty swallowing |
| AAC | augmentative and alternative communication methods and devices |
| Expressive language | using words and sentences to communicate |

## Workflow
1. **Step 1** - Summarise the current position from communication assessments: what is done, what is in progress, what is waiting
2. **Step 2** - Highlight live risks first — aspiration risk not identified — and the controls or watchpoints already in place
3. **Step 3** - State the next actions with owners and deadlines, and the results expected for assessment waiting times
4. **Step 4** - Walk the receiving professional through the brief, answer questions, and confirm understanding
5. **Step 5** - Record that handover happened, who accepted it, and where the full record lives in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes

## Profession-Specific Components
| Component | Details for Speech & Language Therapy |
|-----------|-------------------------------|
| Core documentation | communication assessments; swallowing assessments; therapy plans; progress reviews |
| Core tools & equipment | assessment test kits; communication aids; videofluoroscopy access; AAC devices |
| People involved | children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties; the speech and language therapist; colleagues and other services in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes |
| Primary record | communication assessments — keep it current, dated and attributable |

## Output Format
**Context:** [Situation in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes] | **Objective:** [What this must achieve] | **Audience:** [children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties and other stakeholders]

The finished output is a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions, structured as:
1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

### Action Plan
1. **Immediate:** Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in communication assessments.
2. **Short-term:** Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against assessment waiting times.
3. **Medium-term:** Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes.

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Method |
|--------|--------|--------|
| assessment waiting times | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from communication assessments and reviewed on a set cycle |
| goal achievement rates | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from communication assessments and reviewed on a set cycle |
| swallowing safety outcomes | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from communication assessments and reviewed on a set cycle |
| review completion rates | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from communication assessments and reviewed on a set cycle |

## Guardrails & Quality Checks
- Never let this happen: aspiration risk not identified.
- Never let this happen: communication needs overlooked.
- Never let this happen: delayed referral.
- Work only within the competence and authority of a speech and language therapist; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
- Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes's rules.
- Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
- Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

## Example (illustrative)
A speech and language therapist in clinics, schools, hospital wards and homes applies this workflow for children and adults with communication or swallowing difficulties: they open
communication assessments, work through the five steps using assessment test kits, and close by recording
the outcome against assessment waiting times and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only —
replace with the real details of the case in hand.)