The provision of Happy Talk Speech and Language Therapy is subject to these terms and conditions

Length of contract After the initial assessment the Speech and Language Therapist will feedback his / her findings and recommendations. The number, frequency and duration of future speech and language therapy sessions will be discussed and negotiated between the person with parental responsibility and the Speech and Language Therapist. The latter may also be subject to the agreement of the person commissioning the Speech and Language Therapy input.

Discharge The person with parental responsibility and the person / body commissioning the Happy Talk Speech and Language Therapy can terminate the contract at any time.

Your child’s speech and language therapy may be stopped by the Happy Talk Therapist if:

  • Your child’s speech, language and communication skills are within acceptable limits and / or current goals have been achieved.
  • Therapy is not appropriate at the current time.
  • There is a conflict of opinion which cannot be resolved.
  • Your child is unavailable for therapy and no or insufficient notice has been received.
  • Due to staff shortage, there is no availability within the Team at the current time.
  • There are health and safety concerns.

Following discharge from our service and as per the Code of Practice for Health and Social Care Records (2016), the data we hold on children regarding their speech and language will be retained until the child’s 25th birthday. 

Cancellations We require 24 hrs notice if an appointment is to be cancelled. All appointments cancelled without giving 24 hours’ notice will be charged at the hourly rate.

Payment terms Happy Talk Staff can only accept cash payments at our Poulton Office, where we also have a card machine. Otherwise, payment is due on invoice. Invoicing is completed each week and sent electronically via email, which includes a link to Stripe Payment and the Happy Talk BACs details. You are welcome to pay for your child’s visits in advance, on the day or at any time before the end of the month in order to avoid a larger bill. Payment can be made via BACS Transfer, Bank A/C Sort Code: 01-07-05 Bank AC No. 48079774

Overdue payments may lead to the suspension of a service until all funds are recovered. Please alert the Happy Talk Director if there are likely to be any issues regarding payment. If we are informed in a timely manner, alternative payment arrangements can be explored, as non-payment after a reminder letter will be referred to the Claims Court.

Fees and increases. HT fees will be reviewed on an annual basis and any changes will be communicated to all existing clients before September 1st.

Changes. Our availability is subject to change, especially over the school holidays and at the beginning of a new academic year. Unless you have booked in advance and paid for a block of appointments, Happy Talk Ltd cannot guarantee the same day and time for all of your child’s appointments. If the therapist needs to change one of your booked scheduled days, for example, to attend a case conference, training, or as a result of sickness etc. this will be discussed and negotiated, with sufficient notice wherever possible and any time owing will be re-scheduled for a mutually convenient time or refunded.

Personnel When families commission HT Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) theywill have a named Speech and Language Therapist in addition to benefiting from a team of highly specialist Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy Assistants. Working as a team enables us to increase our capacity and provide a range of specialism and expertise that would be difficult to achieve with only one therapist working in isolation. Your Happy Talk Therapist will always discuss the benefits of another member of the Team joining  or delivering the session and obtain your consent in advance. Sometimes staff changes are required. Any proposed changes to personnel will always be discussed and agreed with you before decisions are taken.

Communication Please do not hesitate to contact the Happy Talk Director regarding any aspect of the Happy Talk Service, help@happy-talk.co.uk.All enquiries regarding finance and staff should only be directed to the Happy Talk Ltd Director, gillian@happy-talk.co.uk

Activity. Initial Assessment – In order to maximise the Therapists time efficiently it is helpful for the Therapist to obtain all existing relevant reports prior to their visit if you are able to provide these. 

In addition to the direct contact time the Therapist spends with you and your child, your quoted initial assessment fee also includes the Therapists time spent creating your child’s therapy records, writing notes from the assessment visit, analysing data, writing the initial summary report and recommendations.

Therapy sessions – Similarly, the fee quoted for each therapy session also includes therapy preparation time for the actual session and therapy time for writing the Happy Talk therapy case notes following the visit.

If required, the following activity will incur an additional cost at the quoted fee per hour and will always be discussed and agreed with you in advance:

  • The preparation of any resources needed to meet your child’s communication needs, 
  • requests for specific written notes following visits, 
  • liaison with other professionals via phone calls / meetings, 
  • visits to schools / nurseries or 
  • further reports as required. 

As Happy Talk strives to be eco-friendly and therefore paperless wherever possible, Happy Talk reports, communication plans and resources will, wherever possible, be provided electronically. 

Working conditions / Health and Safety.  For home visits, please let our therapist know in advance if parking near your premises is an issue. Dog owners please ensure your pet is confined to another room during the visit. It is acceptable to have other family members at the visit however please discuss this with the Therapist in advance. 

Our therapists may decide to abandon the visit if they are unable to proceed safely or effectively due to environmental factors e.g., risk of Covid 19, or personnel, e.g., personnel who are potentially disruptive to the visit and or hostile/ abusive to our therapists. All home visits may be risk assessed. 

Staff welfare -As an employer we are mindful of our team member’s physical and mental health. We reserve the right to withdraw our staff / service at short notice if there are any concerns for their physical or mental wellbeing. We do not tolerate any form of confrontational, accusatory, or derisory conduct, abuse, bullying, discrimination, passive aggressive manipulative or coercive behaviour directed towards our staff from work colleagues, parents/ carers, or children and young people. Our team expect the same courteous behaviour you can expect from them.

Compliments, comments, complaints. Please do not hesitate to raise any issues with your therapist or the Happy Talk Director. 

Consent. For all children referred to Happy Talk, a signed Happy Talk consent is required from the person with parental responsibility before any assessment, specific advice or intervention can begin. (Please refer to our consent document on the website www.happy-talk.co.uk). Additional consent for Telehealth services will be assumed if families accept the invitation and join the Zoom meeting. 

Travel costs will be added to invoices where journeys require Happy Talk staff to travel 50 minutes or more. Potential travel costs will be agreed in advance. 

Remit. Happy Talk Therapists and assistants will only work within the remit of their job description, knowledge, skill, and experience. If required, Happy Talk Therapists will seek further clinical support from within the Happy Talk organisation or externally as appropriate via onward referral, second opinion, clinical supervision. 

Happy Talk Ltd reserves the right to decline referrals to our service if we are of the professional opinion that we cannot meet client needs.

Disputes regarding a conflict of opinion will be addressed via a meeting of all parties involved. If there is no resolution, Happy Talk Ltd reserves the right to withdraw their input in relation to the specific case.

Skill mix. In order to provide an efficient and effective service, Happy Talk Ltd supports “skill mix” within our Team. Our Speech and Language Therapists take responsibility for the speech, language and communication needs of all the children referred to them. The Speech and Language Therapist is responsible for the assessment, communication plans and ongoing review of children on their caseload. The Speech and Language Therapist also takes responsibility for any supervised work undertaken by our experienced Speech and Language Assistant Practitioners and student Speech and Language Therapists. You will always be asked in advance for your consent before our Speech and Language Assistant Practitioners or Speech and Language Therapy students deliver your child’s Speech and Language Therapy session. 

Safeguarding. Everyone who works for or is supervised by Happy Talk Ltd have current enhanced DBS clearance. All Happy Talk staff have accessed child protection and safeguarding training. The HT Professional Lead is the company’s designated person for safeguarding. (Please refer to our safeguarding policy statement)

Governance. All Happy Talk Therapists are registered members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy and the Health and Care Professions Council. Happy Talk Ltd employs governance arrangements to monitor staff and company compliance with the standards of practice required by the regulatory and professional bodies, the Health and Care Professions Council and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

All client details, case notes and correspondence are stored securely and treated confidentially according to General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Information is stored on a secure electronic patient management system called WriteUpp. Reports and programmes are accessed via WriteUpp, a shareable link on an encrypted platform or password protected. 

Any paper based confidential information is stored securely in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You can view our registration with the Information Commissioners Office by visiting ICO

Please see our Privacy Policy by clicking HT Privacy Policy

 As per the Code of Practice for Health and Social Care Records (2016), the data we hold on children regarding their speech and language will be retained until the child’s 25th birthday. 

Any client identifiable information generated by Happy Talk Ltd can only be shared with the named individuals for whom it was intended. Any information sharing is subject to the signed consent of the person with parental responsibility. Please refer to the Happy Talk Consent document on our website Consent

Happy Talk has public and products liability and employer’s liability insurance.

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy provides Professional Indemnity cover for its members.

Happy Talk Ltd does not accept referrals for Paediatric Dysphagia. Happy Talk will only participate in providing general advice on eating and drinking skills and onward referral to specialist NHS Eating and Drinking Teams.

Happy Talk SALT Ltd is limited by guarantee and registered at Companies House, Reg. No. 7555078