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QI 1339 Improving outcomes and experiences for children and families accessing the Selective Mutism Pathway
Crowfoot, Samantha Supported by the Quality Improvement Team
Crowfoot, Samantha
Supported by the Quality Improvement Team
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Affiliation
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
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Publication date
2025-09
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Abstract
Aim: To understand and standardise the Selective Mutism Pathway.
The number of children and young people with Selective Mutism on caseload has increased and there has been an increase in the number of older children and teens being referred or needing support. Alongside this, Selective Mutism is an area that is not studied in depth on most Speech and Language Therapy courses and consequently, many therapists report feeling less confident working with this client group. An initial audit of the caseload, exploring 10 patient journeys indicated inconsistency in how the pathway was followed, length of time between reviews and support received in between, there was little consistency in pathway being provided. The staff were surveyed to find out what support the felt they needed to improve their confidence and these suggestions were implemented and tested. There were changes made to the pathway to introduce a tiered approach and a standard of when to escalate.
Tools Used:
Process mapping - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-conventional-process-mapping.pdf;
Mapping the last 10 patients - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-mapping-the-last-10-patients.pdf;
Staff feedback;
PDSA - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-pdsa-cycles-model-for-improvement.pdf.
Project Impact: 70% of patients had SMART Targets and 60% of patients had mostly met their targets, and staffs confidence with working with this group of patients had increased.
Citation
Crowfoot, Samantha. QI 1339 Improving outcomes and experiences for children and families accessing the Selective Mutism Pathway. Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, 2025.
Type
Internal Poster