Mother Details 18-Month Struggle for Five-Year-Old’s Speech Therapy Access

The mother of a young girl diagnosed with Down’s syndrome has revealed an 18-month struggle with her local council to secure the support her daughter is legally entitled to. Five-year-old Martha, a resident of Bracknell, is supposed to receive speech and language therapy sessions, which are provided by the NHS through the local authority. According to figures from NHS England, Martha is one of more than 63,000 children nationwide who are currently awaiting community speech and language therapy. Bracknell Forest Council stated that it was unable to comment on individual cases. Vicki, Martha’s mother, expressed her frustration, stating, “I’ve emailed the council numerous times, I’ve had no reply back from the council. I’ve phoned the council, left messages, no reply back.” She added that the delay “will have a lasting effect because unfortunately, Martha is falling behind at school. School are amazing but she’s falling behind because she can’t quite grasp what’s being asked of her.” Vicki further described her daughter’s current experience: “At the moment she’s living in that constant frustration because she can’t tell people what she wants or what she feels.” Grainne Siggins, the executive director for people at Bracknell Forest Council, commented, “We are unable to comment on individual cases. However, when a child transfers from outside of the borough to Bracknell Forest, any existing EHCP (education health care plan) already in place is adopted by the council. This ensures continued provision of the already identified interventions.” Derek Munn, who serves as the director of policy and public affairs at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, indicated that Martha’s experience is not uncommon. He stated, “There is an understanding that the current system is not working.” Munn elaborated, “There needs to be more resource, there needs to be more speech and language therapists – it’s a shortage in the profession.” He further explained, “Different challenges and conditions will have different pinch points in terms of age but as a general rules the earlier you identify, the earlier you intervene, the greater and better the impact is going to be for that child later in life.” The latest NHS figures show that 63,411 children in England are waiting for community speech and language therapy. Among these, 19,820 have been waiting between 18 and 52 weeks, and 4,545 children have been waiting for over a year. For updates, BBC Berkshire can be followed on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC does not assume responsibility for the content of external sites and provides details regarding its approach to external linking.