Children’s early development is being put at risk by disruption to vital speech and language services, with Covid being cited as the reason.

Many NHS Drop-in centres relied on by parents to investigate concerns with their toddlers’ progress remain closed or severely pared back, with other services moved substantially online.

Despite England officially having moved to a state of “living with Covid”, The Telegraph has seen numerous examples of children’s centres currently offering as limited a level of access as at the height of the pandemic.

This is despite an escalating need for such services due to the trauma on children of the closure of schools and the stresses of repeated lockdowns.

It comes amid broader public concern about public services and big businesses hiding behind Covid as an excuse not to return to normal working patterns.

The Telegraph revealed on Saturday that one in eight hospital trusts were still restricting visitors from seeing patients, despite Covid restrictions coming to an end.

‘Access issues for many households’ 

Speech and language services are intended to assess, diagnose and provide therapy for children and young people suffering with speech, language and communication difficulties, as well as problems swallowing.

However, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) warned on Saturday of “access issues for many households” and clinical practices “which might not be in the best interests of the child”, partly driven by a desire to drive down waiting lists.

A network of speech and language drop-in centres in Berkshire, for example, are currently described online as “Coronavirus status: CLOSED”.

“Due to the current Covid-19 outbreak, and because we want to keep both our patients and staff as safe as possible, we have made the decision to suspend our face to face speech and language therapy drop-in clinics,” read the message on the Slough Family Services website, run by Slough Borough Council.

It did not say when the drop-in facility might return.

Some services not reinstated 

Meanwhile, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, in Yorkshire, went one further, posting a message to users on Facebook asking for suggestions to re-name its drop-in service for younger children on the basis that it would not be reinstated.

“Hi everyone. Prior to the pandemic, we used to offer a Speech and Language ‘Drop-In’ service where children under 6 could attend our clinic on a drop in day,” it said. 

“Since the pandemic, this has changed to a short telephone appointment based service that parents and carers can assess quickly, to get some initial advice on how to support their child.

“For this reason, we need to change the name of the service – can you help us choose a name.”

The traditional morning play session offered by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has been changed to a “brief assessment”, “due to the current pandemic”.

The trust acknowledged that prior to the pandemic the drop-in sessions had been “very successful”, but that they had been stopped due to infection control, replaced firstly with an advice line and then with booked appointments.

It said it was working to reinstate the drop-in sessions, but warned: “we still risk manage the situation as the nature of a drop-in session is for parents to access it without an appointment and therefore we could potentially have lots of parents and their children arrive and possibly be at risk of spreading infection.”

‘Deeply troubled by impact of pandemic on children’

Kamini Gadhok, the chief executive of the RCSLT, said: “We are deeply troubled by the impact of the pandemic on children needing speech and language therapy.

“We are concerned that the pressure to deal with waiting lists is encouraging practices which might not be in the best interests of the child.

“For example, whilst the use of digital technology has its place, this should not be the only approach used.

“We know, from feedback from our members, that there are access issues for many households and it is not a suitable platform to engage and support all children and young people.

“We urge commissioners to invest in speech and language therapy and support more innovative approaches that meet the needs of children, parents, and carers in a range of settings.”

The speech and language therapy service of Evelina Children’s Healthcare, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, also states online that “due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, and following current guidance from NHS England, the majority of our appointments will be via telephone and/or video calls”.

The trust told the Telegraph that its website was out of date and that face-to-face appointments were available for those who need them, but it could not say what proportion of patients currently received them.

NHS England denied its guidance was preventing speech and language services running normally.

An NHS spokesperson said: “NHS speech and language therapy services are open and offering both in person and virtual appointments based on patient need – anybody who might need support should come forward to get any help needed.”