Gillian Cairns
Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist
Gillian is a Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist with the Cleft Lip and Palate Service based within the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, covering Lothian, Borders, Fife and Highland. Gillian trained at the University of Strathclyde, and later completed post-graduate qualification in cleft palate studies at the University of Sheffield. She began her career in a community speech and language therapy setting in 1996, and I has worked in the specialist area of cleft since 2004. She provides care to children, young people and also adults born with cleft palate / cleft lip and palate and related conditions. Gillian enjoys the hugely varied aspects her job and the opportunity to work with families throughout their care pathway. She also enjoys being part of a wider multidisciplinary team, and being involved in joint treatment planning. In her role, she monitors early speech, language and communication development, provides information and advice to families, provides therapy to children and young people with speech difficulties related to their cleft, and advises other speech and language therapists and other professionals involved. She also monitors for any later changes in speech as young people grow. A typical day can involve play sessions with infants to listen to early speech, formal speech assessments with older children, advice giving and contact with other agencies supporting a family.
Danielle Feeney
Advanced Practitioner Speech and Language Therapist
Danielle specialises in cleft lip and palate and velopharyngeal dysfunction and has been part of the Cleft lip and Palate Service in Scotland since 2010. She is the Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist for Cleft Palate in NHS Tayside. Her role includes assessing and providing therapy for children and adults who have speech difficulties and/or velopharyngeal dysfunction. Danielle regularly works with speech and language therapists across Tayside to provide speech and language therapy input and assessment, and also works closely with her colleagues in the Cleft Service across Scotland.
We are interested in making the cleft journey as good as it can be so please provide us with feedback about it.
Have a look at our early intervention cleft video to support early sound development https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f8y2GKU0p48
Lisa Crampin
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Lisa is a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, working at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where the service covers the West of Scotland. Lisa has extensive experience providing support for people with cleft palate, non-cleft velopharyngeal dysfunction and other craniofacial anomalies having worked in the Scottish cleft service for over 30 years. She is actively involved in research with the current focus on Ultrasound, and is also one of the few Cleft Specialist Speech and Language Therapists in the UK who uses ultrasound visual biofeedback therapy in her usual practice for cleft-related speech difficulties. Lisa has a range of other responsibilities including national audit, teaching and community therapy support, however, the part of her job she still enjoys the most is the therapy, working directly with individuals with clefts and their families.