Breakout session
This breakout session brings together leading experts in dysphagia and provides an ideal opportunity to gain an update in this important clinical area.
Learning objectives:
Sarah is a Consultant in Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester. The 31 bedded Cardiothoracic Critical Care Unit sees a significant number of patients each year with acute cardiogenic shock and is home to the full gambit of supportive measures we use when standard interventions have failed. From IABPs, impellas, VA-ECMO and VADs right through to heart transplantation when necessary, our team loves nothing more than seeing a patient who presented with profound cardiogenic shock, improve and return home to their loved ones.
In the rare event she’s not busy in theatre or on the ICU, her other passion is in education and supporting the next generation of Intensivists. As she was once inspired by the highly supportive ICU environment she trained in as a Resident, she hopes her future Consultant colleagues will relish and embrace the challenges of Cardiac ICM in their careers.
Sarah Wallace OBE FRCSLT is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and honorary senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. She specialises in Critical Care and has over 30 years of clinical experience as an SLT. After training in Manchester, Sarah has worked in hospitals and Non-Government Organisations in the UK, Singapore, Grenada (WI) and Cambodia. Whilst working clinically in cardiothoracic, ECMO and general critical care in Manchester, she also teaches and conducts research internationally, focussing on laryngeal injury, dysphagia and communication issues post intubation and tracheostomy. She has over 60 publications, several top cited articles winning awards from the BMJ and the ICS. She holds expert advisor roles with the Intensive Care Society (ICS), the National Tracheostomy Safety Project and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and has contributed to many policies, guidelines and initiatives including GPICS, FEES, NCEPOD and the ICS National Rehabilitation Collaborative. Sarah is also an Associate Editor for JICS. She has pioneered new treatments for laryngeal recovery in ICU, setting up the first FEES service in Asia and the UK and supports SLT service development in the UK, Sweden and Chile.
Gemma is a Speech and Language Therapist based in Cardiff with over 20 years of experience in Intensive Care. She specialises in dysphagia management, FEES, tracheostomy management, and supporting communication for patients who are critically ill.
Gemma is Chair of the National Specialist Interest Group for SLTs in Intensive Care and a member of the ICS AHP Professional Advisory Group. She also serves as a Specialist Advisor to the RCSLT for Critical Care. Her contributions include developing national policies and guidelines such as the ICS SLT Pillar, RCSLT Tracheostomy Competencies for SLTs, and the ICS Capability Framework.
