Building bridges: strengthening collaboration between public and private services to support vulnerable children with communication difficulties.

Background: Kerry Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Clinic is a well-established private speech and language therapy practice in Kerry, Ireland, which provides assessment and intervention services to children and adults for over 18 years. Historically, attempts to build collaborative practices between Kerry SLT Clinic and public SLT service providers has been constrained by differing governance structures, referral pathways, and communication systems. In response, Kerry SLT clinic sought to establish a sustainable interprofessional partnership with a public services responsible for supporting the development, welfare, and protection of children in care and the effective functioning of families. This initiative reflects a commitment to advancing integrated, child- and family-centred care.

 

Approach: Building on prior learnings presented at the 23rd International Conference on Integrated Care in 2023, this service initiative aims to review the design and implementation of a collaborative clinical pathway between a private SLT service and a public sector service over the last three years. Guided by integrated care principles, comprehensive stakeholder engagement (including foster parents/families), available literature and interprofessional collaboration frameworks, we will present examples of what is essential to strengthen interprofessional collaborations between public and private services. We will also examine whether the concept of interprofessional collaboration is key to the success of future service collaborations and systems changes.

 

Results: This collaboration has demonstrated significant improvements in public and private service coordination, earlier identification of vulnerable children at risk for communication difficulties, and enhanced foster family satisfaction. Professionals reported improved mutual understanding, reduced service duplication, and greater confidence in interprofessional practice. Organisational support and consistent communication were identified as key enablers of success.

 

Implications: This service initiative illustrates that effective interprofessional collaboration, between private and public providers, can strengthen integrated care delivery for vulnerable children and foster families. Workforce satisfaction and shared learning opportunities were reported to increase. Foster parents reported no difficulties transitioning between public and private services and valued consistent collaboration between all stakeholders. Core lessons (shared values, structured communication, and trust) are transferable internationally. Our experiences of this service initiative support the concept of public and private collaborations. However, support at the policy level is integral to ensure equitable access and engagement across public and private services.