Speech Pathology Australia - Allied Health Assistant Feature

or review as the qualified professional, liaising with families/other professionals, providing support to the AHA to complete their tasks and being available to answer potential urgent questions from the AHA on an ongoing basis. When agreeing to work with an AHA it is important the speech pathologist discusses with their employer how much time they require to complete all of the tasks required in order to responsibly carry out their duties to the clients on their caseload. Case study 1 A speech pathologist and AHA work within a school and together provide assessment and therapy to a large caseload of young children. When directed by the speech pathologist, the AHA is confident to carry out set intervention plans provided by the speech pathologist within small therapy groups and individual therapy sessions. The speech pathologist receives a new job offer and submits their resignation from the post at the school. There are difficulties recruiting into the post within the notice period and there are a number of school children that will require end of year NDIS reports in a few months’ time. The speech pathologist is asked to provide intervention plans for the AHA to continue after their contract terminates until another speech pathologist is able to be recruited. They are also asked to provide future NDIS reports for children they know well, in case it takes longer than a couple of months to recruit a new speech pathologist. Discussion Ethical issues could arise if an AHA is working independently without a speech pathologist overseeing the intervention plan they are carrying out. During this time, client’s presentations may change, clinical questions could arise and clinical decisions may need to be made. It would be unethical for an AHA to be working without regular and sufficient access to a speech pathologist who is overseeing the client’s care. This could result in an AHA working outside of their scope of practice and reduced safety and quality of care for the client. Ethical issues can also arise if a speech pathologist is asked to prepare reports for in the future. During the time frame before the report due date there could be changes to the client’s presentation and it is unknown what progress they will make during this time. Speech pathologists are only able to provide reports based on known information that is current at the time of writing. Case study 2 A final year speech pathology student carries out voluntary work with a disability organisation and has regular contact with a client who accesses speech pathology services. The client’s family approach the student and offer them paid work as an AHA in order to help the client achieve their NDIS goals and work on their communication goals outside of sessions. The family believe the student would be well placed to provide the work as they already have a relationship with the client and are nearing the end of their

studies. The speech pathology student has shadowed some therapy sessions with the speech pathologist and feels confident enough to support the client with reaching their goals outside of sessions. Discussion Although the student has developed their knowledge and skills in the provision of speech pathology interventions as they progress through the course, the student is not yet a qualified speech and language pathologist and should not be undertaking tasks that are the responsibility of a qualified professional. By having a discussion with the speech and language pathologist working with the client, the student’s understanding of these ethical and professional obligations is developed. The student is then able to discuss with the family how they could work within a delegated framework, to still provide the input they are seeking in an appropriate way. Case study 3 A speech pathology student is employed by an organisation as an AHA. The role provides excellent opportunities for the student to develop their clinical the organisation to provide support to clients from a pre- prepared intervention plan written by an unknown speech pathologist. Regular supervision with a team of multiple speech pathologists is discussed and agreed between the student and the organisation however there are problems with the logistics and organisation of this. Discussion Ethical issues could arise if an AHA does not have a working relationship with the speech pathologist who has set and provided the intervention plan for a client. The knowledge and skill set of the AHA will be unknown by the speech pathologist providing the intervention program and there will be no opportunity for discussion and support for the AHA. Furthermore, ethical issues could arise if the AHA is requested to seek support from multiple speech pathologists regarding a client’s care or does not have access to regular, timely and sufficient time with the managing speech pathologist regarding clinical decision making and management. skills whilst in training and paid employment to fund their studies. The student is requested by

Trish Johnson Manager Ethics and Professional Issues

Kelly Williams Ethics Advisor Nadia Marussinszky Ethics Advisor

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Speak Out | June 2021