05/03/2026
This still happens week in week out with LAs... My reports simply get ignored like they don't exist... They don't argue them, then don't provide counter evidence... They ignore them simply because I am an independent therapist!
Something that genuinely makes me sad in this profession is when independent speech and language therapy reports are dismissed or discredited simply because they are not written by an NHS therapist.
I have been a speech and language therapist for 40 years. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), just like every other SLT in the UK. That means I am bound by the same professional standards, the same ethical duties, and the same responsibility to base my opinions on evidence, assessment and professional expertise.
When I write a report, I don’t write what anyone wants me to say. I write what the evidence shows.
Every opinion I include must be something I can justify through assessment results, clinical observation, research evidence, and decades of training and experience. If I couldn’t stand up in court or tribunal and explain exactly why I wrote something, I simply wouldn’t write it.
So when parents tell me that someone has suggested my report should be ignored because I am “independent”, it is honestly upsetting. Not because it questions me, but because it distracts from the only thing that should matter: the child.
There is no such thing as a “better” speech and language therapist because they work for the NHS. NHS therapists, independent therapists, school therapists and charity therapists are all trained to the same professional level and regulated by the same body.
The real question should never be “Where does the therapist work?” The question should always be “Is the evidence sound and does this child need support?”
I am not interested in professional politics. I am not interested in winning arguments. And I am certainly not interested in writing reports to please anyone.
I am only interested in one thing: making sure children with communication needs are properly understood and properly supported.
Because when adults argue about who is “allowed” to say what, the child in the middle is the one who loses.
When adults focus on protecting systems instead of listening to children, the system has forgotten why it exists.
