Paediatric Care: Wating Times
Debate between Lord Markham and Lord McLoughlin
Monday 16th October 2023
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(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
Yes. That is where our colleagues in the Department for Education have a key part to play. Start for Life is a joint initiative with DfE which is trying to look at early diagnosis. At the same time, often some of those issues can manifest themselves in anxieties and mental health issues. That is why we have done a lot of work to expand the number of mental health-aware teachers and assessors in schools, so that we can have early detection.
Lord McLoughlin (Con)
Have the Government made any assessment of the impact of strikes on waiting times?
Lord Markham (Con)
Unfortunately, industrial action is impacting on waiting times; we estimate that about a million appointments have been lost to date. Clearly, that is a matter of regret and not good news for anyone.