Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) children’s community health services and (b) staffing levels in such services.

We are committed to reducing long waits for children’s community services and improving timely access. National Health Service planning guidance asks local systems to reduce overall waiting times for community health services, with a particular focus on reducing the longest waits.

NHS England does not hold any specific data on staffing levels for children’s community health services, but has commissioned NHS Benchmarking to develop further understanding of the specific service lines and associated waiting times. NHS England has advised that this should be available by April 2025.

We will launch a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The 10-Year Health Plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, sickness to prevention.