January’s LGT Star of the Month
Congratulations to Elly Stanley, Adult Speech and Language Therapist, who has been chosen as our first LGT Star of the Month for January 2024.
Rebecca Avery, Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist, Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) Team explained why she nominated her: “Elly joined the rotational band 6 SLT role last spring and joined the Home Enteral Nutrition Team. I was impressed by Elly's person-centred approach to work, immersing herself in the lives of our community patients and fighting for them to access the services they needed.
“One patient example stood out to me. A stroke resulted in a patient being unable to swallow. Elly took on this patient and immediately set up sessions with her family, ensuring adequate language translation. She formed a strong working relationship with the patient's GP, discussing next steps in order to maximise chances of regaining swallow function. The GP prescribed a device for swallow rehabilitation and agreed to a referral for a nasendoscopy within our team. The patient and family were upset to see no progress with the swallow in all these months since the stroke and asked if anything else could be done.
“Elly spoke of an electrical neuro-muscular stimulation device which she'd received training for at another Trust. The patient met the requirements and the results for this intervention with stroke patients are very promising. Unfortunately, this service wasn't being used at LGT. The patient and her family reported feeling so well cared-for by Elly and so appreciative of all of her effort, that they offered to self-fund the equipment and donate it to the Trust.
“With just weeks to go in her rotation in the Home Enteral Nutrition Team, Elly liaised with contacts in America and arranged for the equipment to be shipped over from Texas. She diligently followed all procedures required for introducing new services. She updated the family at every step of the process and worked with the new SLT service lead to make a plan for delivering the new therapy and ensuring training of other staff members in the team.
“The Trust's new AHP strategy outlines ways in which we can develop community services to reduce hospital admissions and increase the quality of care at home. Thinking of bringing this service to LGT was not only a genius and patient-centred idea but the outcome will now have a multitude of benefits for our patients.
“Elly's exemplary work here perfectly aligns with the values of the Trust. What stands out to me is 'being accountable over staying comfortable'. Elly took on the responsibility of caring for this patient with extremely complex needs, both socially and medically. She recognised her unique ability to improve this patient's life and went above and beyond in order to put these steps in place.
“In addition to the above achievements, she is the friendliest and supportive colleague. Elly has been very vocal in her appreciation of the teams at LGT and how fairly we treat each other. Her entirely collaborative approach to every aspect of working life is, in my opinion, a perfect demonstration of how we at LGT succeed together rather than achieve alone.”
Mike Bell, Chair, at LGT, congratulated Elly and presented her with her certificate at the Trust Board meeting yesterday at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Elly was also presented with a £100 voucher donated by the Trust and a fruit basket, generously donated by Hasan who runs the fruit stall at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Elly Stanley, Adult Speech and Language Therapist, Acute SLT Team, said: “It is wonderful to be acknowledged for work that I'm truly passionate about. I was surprised to receive the nomination and hugely touched. The HEN Team are a special bunch, and I was routinely impressed and inspired by my colleagues there, for whom it seems 'going the extra mile' is all in a day's work. The team is both incredibly collaborative and patient-centred, and the diverse skill-mix means you're always learning from one another.
I'd also like to thank the LGT Adult SLT leadership team, who were open-minded to introducing the Ampcare therapy device as an innovation within the Trust. Dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) care and management, is an aspect of the health service that is perhaps lesser widely known and, therefore, not on everyone's radar. It is lovely that the LGT Star of the Month award has the added bonus of shining a light on the work done by speech and language therapists (SLT) in supporting patients impacted by this condition.”
Peter Barnes, Head of PTS South East London, HATS Group, who chaired this month’s judging panel commented: “It’s great to see how highly Elly is spoken about and it’s evident that her dedication to her role is assisting people to get the help they require from start to finish.”
