02 supports Speech & Language Therapy

Earlier this week, staff from O2 paid a visit to the Speech & Language Therapy Unit at Wexham Park Hospital to hand over a generous donation of £3,272.58 which they raised through a charity summer fayre, an auction and donation tins.

Tas Akhtar, who works in the Project Management Office at O2 said, “Originally the department signed up for two volunteer projects as part of our Think Big Challenge. The two projects included redecorating and refurbishing the Speech & Language Therapy Unit at Heatherwood and redecorating and refurbishing the teenage patients’ room on Ward 24.

“The money was raised to support these projects but the events were so successful we were able to donate extra money, amounting to over £3,000, once expenses for the two projects had been covered.”

The donation will be used to purchase additional equipment which will help enhance the quality of treatment the Trust is able to offer patients who use our speech & language service.

Some of the specialist equipment will help babies who have articulation difficulties as a result of cleft lip and palate, and improve bottle feeding in babies with feeding problems arising as a result of prematurity, cardiac or respiratory issues.

Stroke patients will also benefit from the donation as more equipment will be available to further enhance their therapy. A resource kit for use with adults who have moderate to severe language disorders following a stroke will be one of the purchases, along with a number of assessment tools that will allow us to better determine the ways we can help people with communication difficulties, let us understand the comprehension problems patients might be experiencing and an assessment which will allow the therapists to focus on specific areas on language breakdown.

Eileen Daniel, Acute Speech & Language Therapy Manager said, “We are absolutely thrilled about receiving this very generous and unexpected donation. Our patients will benefit directly from this wonderful gift because it will be spent on improving the range of specialist assessment and treatment resources that we have available in our departments at both Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals.

“We all take eating, drinking and talking for granted but, for our patients these things can often be very difficult. 02’s donation towards speech & language equipment and resources will really help us to help our patients to improve their quality of life.”

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