Child speech centres fail to reopen as Covid wanes

Early development at risk as NHS language clinics cite virus as reason they have not restored services

CHILDREN’S early development is being put at risk by disruption to vital speech and language services, with Covid being cited as the reason.

Many NHS drop-in centres relied on by parents to investigate concerns with their toddlers’ progress remain closed or severely pared back, with other services moved substantially online.

Despite England officially having moved to a state of “living with Covid”, The Sunday Telegraph has seen numerous examples of children’s centres offering as limited a level of access as at the height of the pandemic.

This is despite an escalating need for such services owing to the trauma on children of the closure of schools and the stresses of repeated lockdowns.

It comes amid broader public concern about public services and big businesses hiding behind Covid as an excuse not to return to normal working patterns.

Yesterday, The Telegraph revealed that almost one in eight hospital trusts was still restricting visitors from seeing patients, despite Covid restrictions coming to an end.

Speech and language services are intended to assess, diagnose and provide therapy for children and young people suffering with speech, language and communication difficulties, as well as problems swallowing.

However, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists last night warned of “access issues for many households” and clinical practices “which might not be in the best interests of the child”, partly driven by a desire to drive down waiting lists.

A network of speech and language drop-in centres in Berkshire, for example, are currently described online as “Coronavirus status: CLOSED”.

“Due to the current Covid-19 outbreak, and because we want to keep both our patients and staff as safe as possible, we have made the decision to suspend our face to face speech and language therapy drop-in clinics,” read the message on the Slough Family Information Service website, run by Slough borough council. It did not say when the drop-in facility might return.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, in Yorkshire, went a step further, posting a message to users on Facebook asking for suggestions to rename its drop-in service for younger children on the basis that it would not be reinstated.

It said: “Prior to the pandemic, we used to offer a speech and language ‘drop-in’ service where children under six could attend our clinic on a drop in day.

“Since the pandemic, this has changed to a short telephone appointment based service that parents and carers can assess quickly, to get some initial advice on how to support their child. For this reason, we need to change the name of the service – can you help us choose a name.”

The traditional morning play session offered by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has been changed to a “brief assessment”, “due to the current pandemic”.

The trust acknowledged that prior to the pandemic the drop-in sessions had been “very successful”, but that they had been stopped to control infections, replaced firstly with an advice line and then with booked appointments. It said it was working to reinstate the drop-in sessions.

NHS England denied that its guidance was preventing speech and language services running normally.

An NHS spokesman said: “NHS speech and language therapy services are open and offering both in person and virtual appointments based on patient need.”