Speech-language therapy — Wellington, Hutt and Kapiti

Call the speech-language therapy service on 04 385 5999 extension 82373.

Speech-language therapy is based at Wellington Regional Hospital.

Street address:

Grace Neill Block — Level 10
Wellington Regional Hospital
49 Riddiford Street
Newtown
Wellington 6021

Wellington Regional Hospital — Google Maps (external link)

Speech-language therapists provide treatment to people in hospital, at outpatient clinics and in their home.

Speech-language therapists manage communication disorders in adults, including:

• difficulty with expressing or understanding language
• unclear speech
• voice problems.

They also assess and treat swallowing and feeding problems in adults, tamariki and pēpi.

Swallowing difficulties in adults

Signs of swallowing difficulties in adults include:

• coughing or choking when eating
• recent weight loss or failure to gain weight
• complaints of discomfort when eating
• difficulty getting food down
• recurrent chest infections.

Communication or swallowing problems in adults may be caused by:

• stroke
• traumatic brain injury
• neurological conditions such as a subarachnoid haemorrhage or brain tumour
• head and neck cancer
• dementia
• progressive neurological diseases such as motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis
• voice impairments such as vocal nodules or vocal fold palsy
• tracheostomy
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• cardiac surgery.

Swallowing difficulties in pēpi and tamariki

Signs of swallowing difficulties in pēpi and tamariki include:

• refusal to eat or feed
• having to be forced to feed
• breath-holding or choking when feeding
• coughing when feeding
• noisy swallowing or breathing when feeding
• failure to thrive, or poor weight gain
• failure to progress across food textures as expected.

Swallowing problems in pēpi and tamariki may be caused by:

• developmental conditions such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism
• structural deficits such as cleft palate
• reflux or cow's milk protein intolerance
• developmental delay
• negative early feeding experiences
• injury resulting from complications at birth
• behavioural challenges
• brain injury
• environmental factors such as bottle feeding or position during feeding.

Outpatient services

A referral for outpatient services in hospital must come from a healthcare provider.

Community services

A referral for community services at home can come from a healthcare provider or yourself.

To refer yourself, fill out our form.

ORA community referral formDOCX70 KB

Email the completed form to RES-OpBkOraChs@ccdhb.org.nz

Tamariki with speech and language delays or stuttering should be referred to the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (external link)

Tamariki with feeding or swallowing difficulties related to a recognised diagnosis or who have an overall developmental delay should be referred to the child development team.

Child development — Wellington, Hutt and Kapiti (internal link)