When paediatric speech or language therapy becomes necessary, there are basically two ways of going about arranging treatment. The first is to choose the care provided by the National Health Service, the second being to work with private speech therapists. For relatively obvious reasons, it tends to be the former of the two choices that stands out to most as the clear choice. But while it’s not to take anything away from the fantastic services the NHS provides, there are several undeniable and unique advantages that come with going private.
Of course, there’s nothing to say that any given child with any kind of speech or language problem might not make outstanding process with both the public and private options alike. But at the same time, it’s difficult not to favour the private option as preferable, when considering the benefits of doing so.
Key examples include:
1 – Immediate Assistance
Absolutely every professional speech and language therapist in the world would agree that when it comes to working with any kind of disorder, time is a critical factor. The reason being that the earlier the condition is brought to the attention of the professionals, the faster the required treatment program can be put into action. All of which adds up to a higher likelihood of outstanding results and considerably faster results for the child. While it’s not to say that speech and language development issues identified as the child gets older cannot be treated successfully, it’s always preferable to nip them in the bud where possible. When working with private speech therapists, waiting lists and complicated referral processes simply do not exist. Which means that if your child could benefit from a consultation today, today is precisely when they will be seen.
2 – Total Flexibility
It’s also important to bring flexibility into consideration, given the way in which you may already be juggling an incredibly hectic family lifestyle. What flexibility means on the part of a speech and language therapist is working in accordance with your schedule, your free time and what is most convenient for you at all times. It means organising visits in accordance with your available time, carrying out home visits where required and being willing to reschedule at any time, should it become necessary. Suffice to say, this simply cannot be expected when working with public health providers, where it’s more a case of accepting what’s offered to you or nothing else. If flexibility is a priority or at least preferable, private speech therapists are the way to go.
3 – Your Choice of Service Providers
Another of the unique benefits of working with private speech therapists is the way in which it gives you complete freedom of choice, when it comes to the service providers available to you. These days, the NHS may give patients and parents of patients the choice of who they see, though options are generally quite limited. Not only this, but it usually ends up being a case of making this decision in accordance with waiting times, rather than competences, experience and so on. Over in the private arena, there are literally thousands of industry leading specialists available at all times to choose from. The simple fact of the matter is that the more leading speech and language therapists you have to choose from, the more likely you are to find the absolute perfect fit for your child’s case.
4 – Focused Specialists
In a similar vein, there’s also the way in which going private means being able to directly target those who focus on the exact specialism relevant to your child’s case. Speech and language therapy exists in a variety of different forms and it is rare to find two specialists with exactly the same experience and expertise. When you choose to go private, you can specifically target those who know and understand your child’s case better than anyone else out there. Once again, working with the NHS often means accepting whoever it is you are offered first.
5 – Affordable Prices
Last but not least, while it’s natural to assume that private speech and language therapy services would be prohibitively expensive, this usually does not turn out to be the case at all. The reason being that contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of what happens during the treatment process takes place outside the therapist’s office. It may only be necessary to spend a very limited amount of time with the therapist each week or fortnight – this being the only time you’ll be paying for their services. And when you consider the additional benefits of going private, it really is a small price to pay in terms of overall value for money.