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 reduce waiting times for children and young people’s access to (a) community paediatric services, (b) occupational therapy and (c) speech and language therapy.

Addressing waiting times is a priority for the Government and the National Health Service. NHS planning guidance asked local systems to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the overall waiting times for community services, including reducing waits over 52 weeks for children’s community services.

NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them, and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly, and is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/community-services-statistics-for-children-young-people-and-adults