Thousands of children facing 'catastrophic' waits for NHS community care

Tens of thousands of children in England have spent more than a year waiting for NHS community care such as hearing services, speech and language therapy and disability support, the BBC has found.

The analysis shows a quarter of the 300,000 children on waiting lists have been waiting more than 12 months.

Tiya Currie's six-year-old son, Arun, struggled to get the support he needs.

He has had difficulties with his speech since he was just a toddler. But when Tiya, 46, from London, tried to get help she faced "waiting list after waiting list", she said.

"I was completely in the dark and I was tearing my hair out. That was really stressful."

After two years of waiting, Tiya and her husband felt they had no choice but to use £4,000 of their savings to pay privately for speech therapy and a formal diagnosis, which revealed Arun had developmental language disorder (DLD).

NHS leaders and doctors say the delays are "catastrophic", harming not only their health but also development – and are calling for the same priority to be given to tackling these long waits as has been given to the hospital backlog.

The government says the long waits are unacceptable, but under its 10-year plan greater investment in community services will improve access to care.

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Source: BBC News, 26 January 2026