Petition calls on Government to support people with communication and swallowing needs

Having just marked three months since the launch of our Building back better report, the RCSLT is encouraging people to sign a petition calling on the Government to implement the report’s recommendations.

The petition was tabled on the Parliament website by Gillian Rudd, a speech and language therapist (SLT) and RCSLT member, and two parents, Dave Harford and Steve Hermon.

If the petition gets 10,000 signatures it will receive a response from Government. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for a debate in Parliament – this will be a huge step forward in the campaign to improve speech and language therapy services across the UK.

The Building back better: Speech and language therapy services after COVID-19 report has shown that too many people have not been able to access adequate speech and language therapy during the pandemic. This has had a negative impact on their lives in many ways, including affecting their mental health and wellbeing.

The report sets out what needs to happen to ensure that people with communication and swallowing needs can access the speech and language therapy that they need, and the petition calls on Government to act on these recommendations.

Author Michael Rosen, who received speech and language therapy while recovering from COVID-19 last year and told his story in the Spring 2021 issue of Bulletin, shared his support for the petition on Twitter:

Speech and language therapists enable people to live and work in the world: people who would otherwise not be able to express themselves. It is a huge and essential job and needs skill, patience and training. Please support. https://t.co/FOf6OFJZsj

— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) June 18, 2021

Sign the petition

This petition ended on 9 December 2021 – thank you to everyone who joined the campaign and signed the petition.

More ways to get involved

• Join in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtags #BuildBackBetterSLT and #FundSLT
• Read more about the RCSLT’s Building back better report
• Take action to support our influencing work