Aylesbury mum raises alarm after over 'speech therapy crisis' in Bucks

A mother in Aylesbury wants to put the spotlight on what she claims is a “speech therapy crisis” in Bucks.

On three occasions a pediatrician put her son forward for speech therapy treatment – but each time she received a response from the NHS instructing her to assist her child herself using free advice on NHS and BBC pages.

Discussions with other parents at nurseries revealed to the Kingsbrook-based mum that many other parents have received similar advice.

Buckinghamshire NHS Trust said it was sorry some parents were having difficulty accessing services, but added that the pandemic had led to both an increase in demand and recruitment challenges.

Unsatisfied with the NHS response, the concerned mum went back to the professionals who suggested the speech therapy in the first place.

She says the hospitals, paediatrician, ENT consultants and GPs were unaware and “aghast at what to do” in each instance.

Unable to get the help she wanted via the NHS, the mother who asked not to be named to protect her son’s identity, used her health insurance to seek private support.

Services for youngsters who may need additional education support in Bucks have previously been labelled “unacceptable”.

An Ofsted report released in April demanded action from the local authority highlighting how it would improve its Special Educational Needs (SEN) services.

In a recent meeting a council cabinet member stated improvements remain a “work in progress”.

A Buckinghamshire Trust spokesperson told The Bucks Herald: “Although we cannot comment on individual cases, we are sorry that some parents are finding it more difficult to access speech and language therapy sessions for their children.

"In Buckinghamshire, our Children and Young People’s Therapies Team has felt the lasting impact of the pandemic, with a significant increase in demand, compounded by recruitment challenges which are a national issue.

"To support families who are having to wait longer than we would like, the team launched a new microsite providing easier access to online resources and introduced a rolling programme of online occupational and speech and language therapy webinars.

"Access for children with high and urgent needs - via GP, consultant and local authority referral - remains unchanged and the health service is working hard to increase wider capacity in this area.”

Buckinghamshire NHS Health Trust is dealing with recruitment challenges which are consistent with national trends.

While facilities across the country are attempting to manage backlogs linked to the way resources were overstretched during the pandemic.

Despite some children having difficulty getting sufficient speech therapy help, the NHS insists that its services remain unchanged in the most urgent situations.

When a child has trouble with feeding and swallowing, the NHS provides any equipment needs.

The website which parents seeking speech therapy support are directed to can be accessed here.

An NHS spokesperson informed The Bucks Herald that the website has been recently updated to provide more clarity on referral information.

The NHS also highlighted that it offers webinar training on a range of topics including occupational therapy, which is made available for families.