Thousands of UK children are waiting more than a year for speech and language support, according to experts at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). Latest figures from August 2026 show that 86,411 people, including 58,114 children, are waiting for community speech and language therapy services.
NHS England data reveals that 2,860 children and 153 adults have been waiting for more than a year for support, while 957 children have been waiting for more than two years. The number of adults waiting for first appointments between August 2023 and August 2026 has increased by 25 per cent.
Staffing Shortages Across Services
The RCSLT published a survey of 132 speech and language therapy services in England, finding that nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) said their staffing levels were not sufficient to meet demand. This rose to 74 per cent among NHS services, while 43 per cent of education or local authority services and 23 per cent of private services reported insufficient staffing.
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of services reported that posts had been frozen in the last year, rising to 33 per cent among NHS services. Some 15 per cent of services said posts had been cut in the last year.
Experts Call for Long-Term Investment
Steve Jamieson, chief executive of the RCSLT, said: “These statistics show the continued impact of unfilled vacancies, inadequate funding and frozen posts on the thousands of children and adults waiting for life-transforming speech and language therapy.”
“Behind each of the numbers are real people with real needs waiting up to a year for assessment and then again for support. Graduates are struggling to find jobs and qualified speech and language therapists are unable to progress their careers,” he added.
Jamieson stated: “There’s not a short-term fix: we need long-term investment, proper workforce planning, effective commissioning and recognition of the skills and expertise that speech and language therapists bring.”
Government Response
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said speech and language therapists provide vital care, and national guidance has been issued to integrated care boards advising them on what community services to commission, including speech and language therapy. The spokesperson added that a national ambition has been set for at least 80 per cent of community health service activity to be delivered within 18 weeks by 2028/29.
