The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (abbreviated as RCSLT) is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the United Kingdom and is a registered charity. It was established on 6 January 1945 to promote the study of speech therapy in the UK, to seek improvement and maintain a high standard of knowledge and to unite all members of the profession. The RCSLT’s current patron is the

Duchess of Edinburgh Duchess of Edinburgh is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh. There have been five Duchesses of Edinburgh since the title's creation. Following the accession of Charles I ...

. The RCSLT has offices in Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London.

History

The RCSLT was founded in 1945 as the College of Speech Therapists (CST), after the amalgamation of the Association of Speech Therapists and the British Society of Speech Therapists in 1944. In 1945, CST fellows and licentiates were granted application to the Register of Medical Auxiliaries. By 1955, the College had withdrawn from the register and published its own member directory. Its first patron, in 1948, was

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

, who received speech therapy for his stammer. Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of K ...

continued this support after his death in 1952 and become the college's patron in 1959. In 1990, speech therapists changed their name and title to "speech and language therapists". The college was awarded the right to call itself the '

Royal College Medical royal college, In the United Kingdom, some Commonwealth realms and Ireland, a professional body responsible for the development of and training in one or more medical specialties. Royal College may also refer to: Places * Royal College S ...

' of Speech and Language Therapists in 1995. The

(the then Countess of Wessex) became the RCSLT patron in 2003 after the death of the Queen Mother in 2002.

Presidents

*Sir George Cox (?–2019) *

Nick Hewer Nicholas Radbourn Hewer (born 17 February 1944) is a retired British television presenter, company director (2010) and former public relations consultant from Swindon, England. From 2005 to 2014, he appeared as Alan Sugar's adviser in the Brit ...

(1 April 2019–current)

Chief Executive

Steve Jamieson MSc, BSc (Hons) RN became Chief Executive in April 2023 following the retirement of Kamini Gadhok after 23 years as RCSLT CEO

Work

The RCSLT is a professional membership body which promotes for the public benefit the art and science of speech and language therapy, meaning care for individuals with communication, swallowing, eating and drinking difficulties. Its stated professional aims are: to provide leadership and set professional standards for speech therapists in the UK; to facilitate and promote research into the field of speech and language therapy; to promote better education and training of speech and language therapists; to provide information for members and the public about speech and language therapy.

Equal pay activism

One of the RCSLT's members, Dr.

Pamela Enderby Pamela Mary Enderby , FRCSLT (born 25 January 1949) is a British speech and language therapist, and Professor of Community Rehabilitation at the University of Sheffield. Career In 1975 Enderby became Head of the Speech Therapy Department at ...

, was the lead claimant in a landmark legal case for equal pay in the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(see

Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority ''Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority'' (1992C-127/92is an EU labour law, relevant for UK labour law, that concerns the justification test for unequal pay between men and women. Facts Dr Pamela Mary Enderby was a speech therapist. She received ...

). In 1986, she argued that her work and that of her colleagues, mostly women, was of equal value to clinical psychologists, who were predominantly men. Her employers said the difference in pay could be justified because the two groups bargain separately. This claim launched the second-longest group action for equal pay for equal work since a 1985 claim by female canteen workers against

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

. The case involved twenty-six court appearances (including at the European Court of Justice), 2,000 applicants and sixteen test cases. The resulting compensation cost the government approximately £30 million in back-pay. The Enderby case led the then Labour government to institute a review of pay and grading scales throughout the health service in the form of the

Agenda for Change Agenda for Change (AfC) is the current National Health Service (NHS) grading and pay system for NHS staff, with the exception of doctors, dentists, apprentices and some senior managers. It covers more than 1 million people and harmonises their ...

Membership

The membership in March 2022 was 20,000. Of this figure, 14,461 were UK practising members, 908 were UK nonpracticing members, 448 were retired, 314 were overseas, 1,105 were students, and 186 were associates. The total figure had fallen from 17,468 at the end of March 2018. In a 2018 survey of its membership (to which 2,700 responded), the RCSLT found that the mean age of its members was 42 and that 73% were employed by the NHS; the remainder worked in independent practice (11%), schools (3%), local authorities (3%), universities (3%), and in other areas (7%).

Finances

In the financial year 2016–2017 the college had income of over £4.2 million and expenditure of over £4.3 million, of which £3.3 million (79%) derived from membership income.

Publications

The monthly membership magazine, ''Bulletin'', is the official magazine of the RCSLT. The magazine features the latest news, clinical articles, job adverts and other advertising. The '' International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders'' is the RCSLT's international research journal.

Awards

Launched in 2010, the Giving Voice Awards celebrate organisations and individuals that have campaigned to highlight how speech and language therapy transforms lives and/or others who have made a significant contribution to improving the lives of people with communication and/or swallowing needs. The Voice Box awards are an annual joke-telling competition for primary school children organised by the RCSLT. In the 2018-19 competition over 5,000 schoolchildren took part in the competition, and ten finalists took part in a live final in London.