A Crisis in Speech Therapy

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 18th Jan 2006

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, used her short debate at the National Assembly today to call for action to improve the delivery of speech and language therapy.

There is a severe shortage of speech and language therapists throughout Wales; in South Powys, for example, there is the equivalent of 2.4 full-time therapists to deal with a caseload of 800 children, and some parents are waiting over 15 months to get therapy for their children.

Ms Williams said: "Without access to these services at an early age, children may never be able to catch up with their peers - their school work can suffer, their employment prospects worsen, they can face social exclusion. These are serious problems, and it is not just a handful of children that are affected - 7 per cent will have a speech and language problem - that's 51,170 children in Wales right now.

"The Labour Assembly Government needs to get to grips with this issue as a matter of urgency. Currently, they do not even collect waiting times for speech and language therapy, so it can be difficult to assess the full size of the problem. It is clear, however, that more speech and language therapists are needed - there are currently about 400 in Wales and one estimate suggests that that number needs to double, but we're only training 38 a year at present. More training places need to be offered, and a career structure for therapists needs to be put in place to encourage those currently practicing to stay in the profession."

Each week that the Assembly meets in plenary, time is allowed for a non-Ministerial Assembly Member to propose a topic for the Assembly's consideration. Kirsty William's name was drawn in the ballot for the debate today, and she has chosen speech therapy as her subject.