Leading speech and language therapy experts have expressed alarm at the number of children needing to access these services facing delays. They were responding to a new NHS Providers report on children’s health services, Forgotten Generation, which found that waiting times for speech and language therapy had gone up from 13 weeks to over 18 weeks after the pandemic. ‘Without help, these children are more likely to be behind in basic subjects at school, have worse mental health and be out of work as adults. This will have a huge cost to their lives,’ Jane Harris, CEO of Speech and Language UK, told Independent Nurse.
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Currently 1.9 million children in the UK are behind in talking and understanding words, a number which has been going up every year for the last three years.
‘There's a link between speech language and communication and social and emotional development, behaviour, and learning ability’ said Libby Hill, a consultant speech and language therapist. ‘Any weakness in your speech language and communication will affect these other areas of development; it cannot exist in isolation.’
In the report, 88% of respondents said that waiting times for follow up appointments had also increased, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
When not identified or supported in time, ‘children with speech, language and communication needs are at increased risk of exclusion from school, and potential involvement in the criminal justice system’ said the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
The NHS Providers report said delays to accessing these services would impact children and young people’s ‘personal development, school readiness and educational attainment’, as well as ‘a longer term impact on the life chances of these children’.
‘Almost every educational skill presupposes a certain level of language and communication. If they haven't got this level of language and communication, it's like trying to build a wall without the foundation bricks in place’, said Ms Hill.
The report called for increasing investment in prevention and early intervention to combat these issues, or risk children becoming ‘a forgotten generation’. Experts called for the Government to increase funding for speech and language therapy, including training for schools and nurseries.
‘More investment and support for parents and staff in the early years would help prevent the knock on difficulty once the child starts school’ said Ms Hill.
‘The Government needs to create a proper workforce strategy for speech and language therapists, so children with lifelong speech and language challenges can get help within weeks rather than months or years’ said Ms Harris.