The Speech Department at Newcastle began its life on 22 June 1959. From its humble beginnings as a sub-department of the teaching hospitals of King’s College of the Newcastle division of the University of Durham, it settled into its current home when Newcastle University became an independent university in August 1963. It was the first programme in the UK to offer a professional degree qualification in speech and language therapy, with the first students graduating in 1967.
The pioneer of the Newcastle Sub-Department of Speech was Muriel Morley, a speech therapist who was also a key figure in the development of the profession nationally. In her work with children with speech disorders, she advocated the personal and social importance of speech and was passionate about promoting its academic study.
As founder of the Newcastle Sub-Department of Speech, she had a three-stranded mission for its establishment and work:
This mission has been promoted by subsequent heads of department, perhaps most notably Professor Ruth Lesser, who steered the department for 18 years until 1995. At the instigation of Professor Barbara Dodd, Newcastle was the first pre-registration programme in the UK to use the innovative case-based problem solving approach in teaching. Integral to student training and our clinical research are the campus clinics – the North East Aphasia Centre, the Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Clinic and the Literacy Clinic.
The vision for high quality teaching, excellent research and working collaboratively with the profession to impact on practice remain cornerstones of the programme 50 years on, and have contributed to our continued high standing within health and education both nationally and internationally.
To celebrate our 50th anniversary and the remarkable achievements of the Newcastle programme over the years, we hosted a one day conference on 24 June 2009 and welcomed many past graduates of our programmes, local clinicians and researchers to join us in our celebrations!