- At Spectrum Speech Pathology, our focus is always on the wellbeing of the children we see. Among the children who attend the clinic, many come from separated families. Conflict and communication breakdown within families can limit collaboration with health care providers and impact optimal treatment outcomes for the child. The purpose of this policy is to outline our practice’s philosophy to our families to ensure that the best interests of our clients are always prioritised. This policy is reviewed regularly.
- It is our expectation that separated parents work together respectfully and cooperatively, regarding the care of their child. Decisions regarding a child’s Speech Pathology service (e.g., whether to undergo assessment or commence therapy) should be made jointly by both parents wherever possible.
- It is the parents’ obligation to provide us a copy of all relevant legal documents and court orders / parenting orders prior to the first appointment and to advise us of any changes. Where there are court orders, parenting orders or intervention orders in place we will follow these orders.
- If there are no court or parenting orders in place, then either parent or legal guardian can schedule an appointment with their child, be present at the child’s appointment, and receive a copy of the child’s reports.
- If the appointment is made by one parent, it is the responsibility of this parent to inform the other parent and provide feedback to them. We do not have the capacity to provide separate feedback by phone or email to each parent following sessions. If one parent does not routinely attend therapy sessions and requests emails or phone calls regarding the Speech Pathology program, Spectrum Speech Pathology will charge a fee for the time involved. This is limited to one update per term for weekly clients or one per semester for fortnightly clients.
- Assessment reports or letters regarding the child will be provided to the parent who attends the assessment and pays for the service and report. It is the responsibility of that parent to forward the report to the other parent.
- Payment is to be made on the day of the child’s appointment. If there is a legal agreement that requires the other parent to pay all or part of the treatment costs, it is the attending parent’s responsibility to settle the account and collect reimbursement from the other parent. Invoices cannot be split due to Medicare, Health fund and NDIS rulings.
- Where there is significant conflict between parents, we reserve the right to limit our services until the dispute has been resolved. If necessary, we may refuse services or discharge a family from the clinic if the conflict is disruptive to the running of our clinic or impedes the care of the child.
- We do not provide letters/reports for the primary purpose of legal decision making around custody issues of parental separation.
- We do our best to accommodate all family circumstances. Please help us to provide the best Speech Pathology care for your child by providing all relevant information regarding your family situation at your first appointment with us.
- Please be respectful of our staff. We may not be perfect, and you may not always agree with us, but we will not tolerate aggressive, abusive, threatening or intimidating behaviour in our clinic, on the telephone or via email communication.
