Expressions of Interest - Development of Feeding, Eating, Drinking and Swallowing (FEDS) Service in Paediatric Primary Care

We are currently taking expressions of interest for the following course:

Development of Feeding, Eating, Drinking and Swallowing (FEDS) Service in Paediatric Primary Care

This is a one-day in-person course aimed at speech and language therapists working in primary care who are interested in developing their skills and services in working with children and young people with FEDS needs.

Course Overview:

This course will focus on the development of a Feeding, Eating, Drinking, Swallowing (FEDS) service in paediatric primary care. The training will be delivered by an SLT team who have extensive dysphagia, primary care experience and successfully established a paediatric primary care FEDS service, operational since 2023.

Learning Objectives:

• To be able to learn and apply theoretical knowledge of anatomy, physiology and feeding development in infants and young children to clinical practice.
• To recognise and assess a range of FEDS presentations including behavioural, gastro and developmental feeding. 
• To understand paediatric FEDS competency frameworks and guidance on achieving Level 1(basic), Level 2 (intermediate) and Level 3 (advanced) competencies in Primary Care
• To develop the skills including screening referrals, developing an assessment protocol and management plans, as part of a primary care FEDS pathway. 
• To understand the role of an MDT in paediatric FEDS, specifically the role of the dietician. 

Participant Criteria:

This training is for;

• Speech and Language Therapists in primary care who are interested in building their knowledge and skills working with infants and young children with FEDS needs in a primary care setting.
• Speech and Language Therapists and SLT teams who wish to establish a paediatric FEDS service as part of their service provision. 

Prerequisites to attend the course;

1. Staff grade SLTs, Senior SLTs and SLT managers with a dysphagia qualification. Please note this course is not a substitute for achieving a dysphagia qualification. 
2. SLTs without a dysphagia qualification are welcome to attend, however, will not be able to practice in the area of paediatric FEDS without a dysphagia qualification. 

Speaker Bios:

Aine Lawlor is a SLT Manager in Primary Care, managing both adult and paediatric services. She has worked clinically in disability, paediatric and adult services. As a manager, Áine has developed paediatric primary care FEDS services and completed training and upskilling for SLTs in Primary Care. Áine is competent in performing and analysing Videofluoroscoy Swallow Studies and is MBSImP certified. She has also completed further CPD in dysphagia, including Responsive Feeding, ARFID and Fussy Eating.

Martina Boyle is the SLT Manager in St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network – Rathgar. She has over 15 years clinical experience and has worked across acute hospital and primary care (PC) settings in Ireland and the UK. She developed skills in managing complex paediatric Feeding, Eating Drinking and Swallowing (FEDS) cases during her time as the Senior SLT in National Neurosurgical Centre in Beaumont Hospital. In 2023 she was part of the team that developed the PC FEDS pathway in Dublin South City – as part of this initiative she delivered supervision to senior and staff grade paediatric PC SLTs developing competencies in FEDS management. Martina is competent in performing and analysing Videofluoroscopy Swallow Studies, Tracheostomy Management and is currently developing competencies in Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES).  

Ciara Bergin is a Senior SLT with 10 years experience in primary care and disability settings in both Ireland and Singapore. She has a longstanding interest in paediatric feeding, eating, drinking, and swallowing (FEDS) and, together with her colleagues, identified the need to develop such services for children and their families in primary care. Ciara has actively pursued a range of CPD opportunities and clinical experience to achieve her paediatric FEDS competencies. As part of the development of a primary care paediatric FEDS service, she provided supervision to senior and staff grade paediatric primary care SLTs. More recently, Ciara has worked as a Practice Tutor for the undergraduate Speech and Language Therapy programme in University College Cork. In this role, she supports the clinical learning of SLT students throughout the academic year, while also supporting students and practice educators in achieving successful placement experiences.

Please note this course will not focus on an ARFID caseload

Date, venue and cost to be confirmed. It is likely that this course will take place in Quarter 4 2025. To express your interest in attending, please complete the following form: