Rachel Barnard

Rachel Barnard is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Health Sciences, Division of Language and Communication Science, City, University of London. Her research focuses on interprofessional collaboration between speech and language therapists (SLTs) and nurses in managing swallow safety for stroke patients. She has conducted extensive ethnographic studies on stroke units, highlighting the ethical and practical dilemmas in adhering to swallowing recommendations while balancing patient autonomy and resource constraints.

Her work examines how dysphagia management is influenced by temporal gaps in SLT availability, staffing limitations, and competing clinical priorities. Key themes include the socially constructed nature of risk, the role of incident reporting in shaping professional relationships, and the need for context-specific solutions to improve adherence to safety protocols.

The study analyzed 15 SLTs, 50 nurses, and 19 patients across three UK stroke wards. Findings emphasize the importance of localized risk discussions, advanced nursing competencies for swallow management, and 7-day SLT coverage to address temporal gaps. Barnard’s work contributes to debates on "hard" vs. "soft" patient safety signals and their impact on interprofessional trust.