Mark Jayes talked to Team ReSNetSLT about his personal reflections on his role as the RCSLT Representative to the European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA).
We know that you will all enjoy his thoughts and insights, that help us all to reflect on the opportunities for us all to engage more in our wider professional community.
“As May 2022 marks the end of my six-year tenure as the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ (RCSLT) Representative to the European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA), I have started to reflect on the benefits and opportunities this role has offered on a personal level.
When I was selected to take on the role in 2016, ESLA was still known as CPLOL.
This pan-European organisation has represented the interests of the speech and language therapy profession since 1988.
It aims to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange between SLTs across Europe and to increase recognition, promotion, and protection of the profession at a European level.
RCSLT was one of its founding members and is currently its largest member association.
Over the course of its history, the organisation has grown and developed to meet the needs of its members.
Its transition from CPLOL to ESLA in recent years was in direct response to members’ calls for the organisation to develop more efficient and cost-effective ways of working and to deliver more tangible benefits to its members.
Positively, ESLA has managed to cut its working costs and pass on savings to its members in terms of significant reductions in membership fees. It is strengthening its work with European institutions to influence policy and legislation relating to SLT practice.
ESLA has also introduced a series of free educational webinars and provided organisational support to new networks, for example the SLPhD Network (@SLPhDNetwork) for SLT PhD students and early career researchers.
The RCSLT representative role has involved a range of interesting, enriching activities:
- contribution to ESLA decision-making on behalf of RCSLT members; to do this, I have had to work closely with RCSLT officers to understand RCSLT priorities.
- feedback to RCSLT members about ESLA activities and targets, in the form of biannual reports to RCSLT senior leaders, and posts on the RCSLT website and in the RCSLT Bulletin.
- direct involvement in ESLA working groups, including its Nominations Committee and the group planning activities to publicise and celebrate the annual ESLA awareness-raising event, European Day of Speech and Language Therapy on 6th March (ESLA’s official birthday).
More recently, I have played a key role in the task force planning the 2022 ESLA Scientific Congress of Speech and Language Therapy.
This hybrid conference taking place in Salzburg and online between 26-28th May provides a great opportunity to learn about advances in SLT practice, education, and research, and to network with colleagues from across the world.
I was extremely honoured to be invited to chair the Congress Scientific Committee and have worked with a great team of other dedicated volunteers across Europe to put together what we think is an exciting programme of presentations and workshops.
You can find out more about the programme and register for the congress on its website.
My work as RCSLT representative has been greatly aided by the wonderful support I have received from members of the RCSLT ESLA Action Group.
This is made up of practitioner and student SLT volunteers from the UK, who have worked extremely hard over the last six years to help me to raise the profile of ESLA within the RCSLT membership and to engage RCSLT members in ESLA activities.
We have increased UK SLTs’ awareness of ESLA and the benefits of ESLA membership through posts on the RCSLT website, in Bulletin, by maintaining our own Twitter account (which now has nearly 500 followers), and by organising various learning opportunities.
These include our annual events to mark European Day of Speech and Language Therapy, free webinars on topics including multiculturalism, telehealth, and working in Europe as a UK-trained SLT, a free training day on inclusive service design, and a recent Tweetchat about student placement experiences hosted jointly with ReSNetSLT.
Action Group members have also worked directly with ESLA, as members of its Task Forces.
I would like to personally thank my various Action Group colleagues for their support over the last six years: Dr Hazel Roddam (former RCSLT representative to CPLOL), Raman Kaur, Katie Levy, Lesley Cherriman, Susan Guthrie, Hannah Harvey, Roberta Tomasoni-Major, Helen Coward, Lorette Porter, and Andrea Robinson.
My involvement with ESLA has enabled me to learn more about SLT training, practice, service delivery, and research across Europe and to reflect on and challenge some of my preconceptions or biases about ways of working.
I have also learned more about how the RCSLT functions and its strategic aims.
I have developed a range of useful, transferable skills relating to communication, teamworking, leadership and project management.
Perhaps just as importantly, I have been able to meet some inspirational SLTs and develop fruitful, long-term working and personal relationships with colleagues across Europe.
I believe these relationships can only enhance my future (working) life and I am extremely thankful for this.
I believe that ESLA will continue to adapt and develop, in order to safeguard and promote our profession and to champion the rights of people with communication and swallowing disabilities.
I think that UK SLTs benefit from RCSLT’s membership because ESLA provides exciting opportunities to look beyond our own ways of working to learn about different approaches to training, scope of practice and service delivery, across linguistic and cultural divides.
The RCSLT’s reputation in Europe is also strengthened through its membership of ESLA; ESLA members admire the RCSLT and look to it for inspiration and guidance.
Finally, ESLA provides a vehicle to harness collective SLT expertise and strength across Europe – currently ESLA is a key player in supporting our Ukrainian colleagues and their patients/clients at their time of need.
I have relished the opportunity to be part of this wonderful European community of speech and language therapists and will greatly miss being part of the vibrant and supportive ESLA family.”
If you would like more information about ESLA you can link to their website and follow their social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.
You can also watch a selection of video presentations on the ESLA YouTube channel.
Finally, pictured here you can see Mark when he attended his very first CPLOL Commission meeting with fellow RCSLT Delegates Hazel Roddam and Alison Fuller.
Mark took over as Delegate when Alison completed her term of office in this role.
Alison is deeply missed as a valued friend, and was hugely respected by all the European colleagues who worked with her in CPLOL.
