Glasgow’s Paediatric SLT team introduces secure asynchronous video service to enhance family focused care

     

In the UK, around 1.4 million children and young people have speech, language, and communication differences, often requiring support from Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) services. These services involve closely observing children's communication skills and interactions with their families, which can be facilitated through video samples.

However, many paediatric SLT services face challenges in accessing such videos due to equipment limitations and inadequate infrastructure for secure storage. The COVID-19 pandemic only further complicated this issue, highlighting the importance of early intervention for speech, language, and communication differences.

To overcome these challenges, the Paediatric NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) SLT service began using vCreate Health, a secure video service originally piloted by Glasgow’s Paediatric Neurology team.

The platform allows patients and parents to upload smartphone-recorded videos to a secure cloud-based system, along with contextual data, which clinicians can then review to aid in clinical decision-making.

Claire Henderson, SLT Team Leader said: “vCreate has been a useful adjunct for increasing the scope of our service. It has reduced the number of face-to-face appointments for families. For some families with preschool children with suspected Autism, being able to view them in their naturalistic setting has reduced the levels of stress for the family around an appointment.”

Glasgow’s SLT Team Leader, Liz O’Connell, said “To date, vCreate has helped reduce the need for face-to-face appointments in 73% of cases and 76% of clinicians stated that the service has been useful in helping clinical decision-making with assessment and intervention.”

The technology has also aided clinician-to-clinician communication, allowing healthcare professionals to share videos with colleagues for second opinions both internally and externally.

Jackie Mullen, Speech and Language Therapy Manager at NHSGGC said: “I recently used the service as part of an Autism assessment where the child was presenting one way at home and differently at school and within the clinical setting, leading to much debate about the diagnosis. We asked the parents to send videos in of the child in various situations in the home which helped our team accurately reach and Autism diagnosis and provide the family with appropriate support.”

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