Specialised AAC Services: Equipment Only Requests

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Quality Assurance of ‘Equipment only’ requests for individuals who meet the eligibility criteria for Specialised AAC services

It is recognised that there will be some instances where it will not be necessary for commissioned Specialised AAC services in England to undertake an assessment of an individual meeting the eligibility criteria within the service specification D01 S/b and funding may be sought for equipment provision only. These instances may include but are not exclusive to:

  • Referrals for individuals who are competent and experienced in the use of a communication aid, but whose existing equipment is malfunctioning frequently or has ceased to work.
  • Referrals from local AAC services and professionals with a significant level of AAC expertise and competency

When requests are received for funding equipment only, a Quality Assurance Framework has been developed for use by specialised AAC services to ensure that a comprehensive assessment has taken place in order to:

  • Ensure equipment recommendations are made that are appropriate to the needs of the individual
  • Ensure national equity of provision across all services in line with the Quality Standard for AAC services
  • Support the maintenance and development of local AAC services
  • Develop cost efficient and timely delivery of NHS funded services
  • Identify training needs within local AAC services

A joint Quality Assurance working party has been established that is being supported by funding from a DfE Project being delivered by ACE Centre in partnership with Communication Matters and 1Voice. This has resulted in the production of a draft Quality Assurance Framework that will be used by commissioned specialised AAC services to consider equipment funding requests. The documents are currently being reviewed and can be downloaded by following the links below:

NHS services equipment only assessment report form (pdf)

Please contact Anna Reeves ([email protected]) if you wish to submit any feedback on these documents.