Coronavirus (COVID-19) – information for children, young people and families
Please note we are still accepting referrals into the service at this time.
We understand that you might be worried about coronavirus – also known as COVID-19 – particularly if your child has a long-term health condition.
This information leaflet sets out our advice and the action we are taking to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
We provide evidence based specialist support to children (0-19) with a range of specific speech, language and communication difficulties and those with difficulties swallowing, eating and drinking.
Waiting times
The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service is currently experiencing high demand, which means there are long waiting times for appointments. We recognise that this information may be concerning and want you to know we are working actively with Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (Health Commissioners of the service) and the Local Authority on long-term solutions so that children can access support in a more reasonable timescale.
At present, there are waits of several months for an initial assessment. We plan to reduce this wait to 25-26 weeks by the end of March 2020 for most children. (Those with needs that pose the greatest risk to their health, such as eating and drinking difficulties, are already seen much sooner).
For children who meet the threshold for treatment, there is a second wait for treatment to start. We are tackling waits at this point in the pathway by targeting two groups of children first, where we believe their needs most require the specific skills of a Speech and Language Therapist. These children have difficulties with speech sounds or stammering. We aim to reduce the wait from referral to start of treatment for those children to 30 weeks by the end of March 2020 - the service is on track to reach this target.
We have been working hard to prevent waiting times for other children, who mostly have difficulties developing language, from growing any longer and have, in fact, reduced average waits. The longest wait at the end of January for this group of children is 120 weeks from referral to start of treatment; however, average waits are 90 weeks.
NEW ADVICE LINE NUMBER OPEN!
In response to the restrictions in place due to COVID-19 we have fast-tracked our plans for a Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line - NOW OPEN!!
Are you the parent/carer of a child or young person with speech, language or communication needs and/or eating, drinking and swallowing concerns?
Are you a professional or member of school staff/children’s workforce involved with supporting children and young people with speech language communication needs and/or eating and drinking concerns?
You can contact the Speech and Language Therapy Team for advice, strategies and support.
The phone line is open from Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm. Our line is manned by qualified speech and language therapists, with access to specialist speech and language therapists, information and resources.
The child/ young person you are calling about must be:
- aged 0-18 years (or up to 19 only if in full-time special school education)
- registered with a Birmingham GP or attending a Birmingham School.
BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY TEAM ADVICE LINE NUMBER: 0121 466 6231
Further Information Contact Us
