INCREASING numbers of call centre workers are being referred to speech therapists because their voices are wearing out.

Dr Graham Williamson, consultant head of speech therapy with Sedgefield Primary Care Trust, said he was seeing more and more call centre employees referred by their GP.

The North-East has one of the largest concentrations of call centres in the UK.

Nationally more than 790,000 people work in the industry.

"The biggest group of people I see are teachers but the other, growing group of people are those who work in call centres," said Dr Williamson, who recently won a national award for innovation in his field.

"Some of these people are working up to ten hours a day with only 15 seconds break between calls. Our voices are designed to last a lifetime but you do need appropriate periods of rest to allow vocal muscles to recover.

"We try to teach people how to conserve their voice. One of the main things to consider is to keep your mouth and throat lubricated. These people often work in an air conditioned environment which can be very dry."

Dr Williamson said he advised call centre workers to take sips of water every half hour and avoid dehydrating throat lozenges containing menthol.

Maureen Dixon, of Orange, which employs 5,500 people at call centres in Peterlee, Darlington and North Tyneside, said: "We are not aware of this being a problem among our staff. If somebody had a problem we would support them."

Free tea, coffee and water were available to staff who also had regular breaks.

Stephen Albon, North-East spokesman for the Communications Workers Union, said: "We have had episodes of voice loss but I wouldn't say it is a massive problem."

* See this week's health page on Friday for an insight into the work of speech therapists.