23rd September 2025
The Southern Trust is delighted to receive a total of six awards out of six shortlisted entries at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy NI Awards last Friday.
The regional celebration of excellence marked 80 years of the profession in Northern Ireland.
The award winners are:
Inca Deeney, Armagh and Dungannon SLT Children’s Community Team who won the Rising Star category. Inca was shortlisted for her inspiring early career as a standout clinician. With a calm, thoughtful approach and a drive to improve children’s communication, she is already leading positive change.
Keira Gilmore, Armagh and Dungannon SLT Children’s Community Team who won the Inspiration Category. Keira was nominated for her passion and expertise to inspire the whole team. She mentors with kindness and dedication, making a lasting impact on families and colleagues alike. A true role model and invaluable asset no matter what comes her way.
Runners up awards went to:
Helen Thornton, Craigavon Area Hospital in the Support Worker category. Helen is described as an exceptional SLT Assistant whose warm, positive attitude enhances patient care and team morale. Always going above and beyond supporting clinical, operational and wellbeing needs with outstanding organisational skills and compassion, expertly coordinating clinics, easing administrative burdens and building confidence as an encompass Super User. Her dedication to patients and colleagues, along with her role in quality improvement, makes her an invaluable team member.
Wendy Taggart, Adult Community Team for Leadership. Wendy has led the Adult SLT services with compassion, creativity and a truly open-door approach. She was shortlisted for inspiring her team through inclusive leadership, supporting every staff member regardless of role. Wendy successfully led a Quality Improvement project that reduced waiting times from 52 weeks to 12 within a year, significantly improving patient access and staff morale. Her leadership style empowers others, fosters meaningful change and has inspired further QI projects across the service.
Ciara Fearon, Community Paediatric Team for Leadership. Ciara’s dedication to innovation and staff wellbeing has improved team stability and service quality across the Trust. As Practice Educator Coordinator, she led a compassionate, innovative Quality Improvement project. Listening to colleagues, she introduced wellbeing initiatives, peer support, and professional development, boosting retention and satisfaction. Her creative, open leadership enhances student placements and supports educators, strengthening the entire service.
Adult Community Team for the Team award. This small team facilitate outpatient clinics and domiciliary visits across the Trust, always committed to reviewing and developing their practice to ensure positive outcomes for patients. Over the past year, they have successfully undertaken a Quality Improvement project addressing the challenge of managing increasing waiting lists and rise in demand.
With careful planning, they evaluated and updated referral and triage processes and through great commitment and determination, have reduced initial waiting list time from 52 weeks to 12 weeks.
Congratulating colleagues on being recognised amongst the very best in Northern Ireland, Professional Lead Speech and Language Therapist Hilary McFaul said:
“We have a fantastic team of speech and language therapy professionals working in hospital and community settings across the entire Trust area. Our colleagues are a key part of the multi-disciplinary team, offering assessment, diagnosis, treatment and support for children and adults of all ages who have difficulties with speech, language, communication, eating, drinking and swallowing.
“The fact that all six shortlisted nominations all received an award on the night amongst such outstanding quality this year is a testament to the standard of care delivered by the Southern Trust SLT team, demonstrating their commitment to improving the quality of peoples’ lives and helping them to achieve their potential.”