Dyspraxia: Children

(asked on 17th February 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children and young people with dyspraxia have access to (a) occupational therapy, (b) physiotherapy and (c) speech and language therapy services.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 2nd March 2023

The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision Green Paper set out our proposal to commission analysis to ensure that the health needs of children and young people with SEND, including those with dyspraxia, are supported through effective workforce planning. We propose to work with Health Education England, NHS England and the Department for Education to build on existing evidence and assess demand for support for children and young people with SEND from the therapy and diagnostic workforce.

The number of therapists working in the National Health Service in England has increased in recent years, but we recognise the need to improve access to therapies. It is the responsibility of individual employers, including schools and hospitals, to plan their staffing levels in line with their local service priorities. To support the supply of more speech and language therapists to the NHS, since September 2020 all eligible students have been able to apply for a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support available for childcare, accommodation and travel costs.

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