Terms & Conditions

Payment:

Current fees are listed on the website. All fees are agreed and paid in advance of sessions via online invoicing. Your appointment(s) is secured once payment has been received. Cheques are not accepted. For school-based contracts, arrangements can be made for invoices to be sent on a half-termly or termly basis.

Parents/carers using private health insurance are responsible for settling the invoice and claiming from the insurer concerned. It is recommended that you check the level and nature of you cover before agreeing to therapy.

Fees are subject to annual review. Existing clients will be given 8 weeks’ notice of any changes in fees. Fee changes do not affect the price of blocks which have already started or sessions which have already been booked and invoiced.

Cancellation:

Please provide a minimum of 24 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment. This should be carried out via phone or email and you will receive notification of your cancellation. Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice or failure to attend will incur the full cost for that session. It is the parent/carer’s responsibility to inform the therapist if the child is going to be absent from school / nursery on the day of a visit. If more than two sessions in a row are cancelled or missed, therapy may be put on hold until circumstances allow for regular attendance. If your therapist needs to cancel an appointment, you will be informed as soon as possible, no charge will be made and a new appointment will be organised at a mutually convenient time. 

Protecting your information:

Information will be treated confidentially and in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (May, 2018). The therapist holds a Data Controller registration with the Information Commissions Office (ICO). All client details, case notes and correspondence will be stored electronically. Assessment and/or therapy can sometimes involve video recording. Where these recordings aren’t deleted immediately after a session, they will be treated with the same confidentiality and protection as all other data. Information will be kept until your child’s 25th birthday.

Sharing information

To ensure effective assessment and therapy, liaison with other professionals involved in the child’s learning and development is carried out. With your permission, relevant information will be shared with other involved professionals. It is at the parents’ / school’s discretion to share to responsibly share written documentation with appropriate others.

Should any safeguarding concerns arise, the therapist has a legal obligation to disclose this information to appropriate professionals. 

Working with the NHS

In many cases, children that receive independent therapy will also be eligible for or already receiving NHS therapy. In this instance, it is anticipated that the child’s parents/carers will inform both the Independent and NHS therapist. To ensure effective assessment and therapy, it is often beneficial for the therapists to liaise for the purpose of information sharing.

Speech Leap are currently unable to support children whose home address, school or G.P. fall within the Tameside and Glossop area. Therapists working for Speech Leap have current commitments within this NHS Speech and Language Therapy Team.

Medico-legal work and tribunals

Speech Leap do not offer medico-legal or tribunal work at this time.

Professional registration and guidelines

Speech Leap works according to professional guidelines set out by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Complaints

We hope that any complaints about the services provided by Speech Leap can be resolved by communicating directly with us. If unresolved, you can contact the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) or Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).