Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of (a) speech and (b) language therapists in North Cornwall constituency.

Community health services, including speech and language therapy, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.

North Cornwall Speech and Language therapist services are commissioned through the National Health Service, local authorities, educational institutions, independent providers, and the non-profit sector across multiple settings within geographical areas.

Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) workforce for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly includes:

• A (adult SLT) team of 10.95 whole time equivalent registered Speech and Language Therapy staff which support adults countywide, which include those referred from North Cornwall. The teams work across the county to give resilience, with 3.80 whole time equivalent of these registered Speech and Language Therapy staff designated to the North and East Teams.
• A (Children SLT) team of 37.60 whole time equivalent registered Speech and Language Therapy staff and one apprentice which support children countywide, the registered staff designated to the North and East of Cornwall 13.64 whole time equivalent.

We recognise the impact that long waits to access speech and language therapy can have on the individual, their families, and carers and we are working closely with NHS England to improve timely access to community health services and on actions to reduce long waits. We have also published for the first time an overview of the core community health services, in Standardising Community Health Services, which includes speech and language therapy, and that integrated care boards should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services.