Written question WQ82500

I expect health boards to work with partners to ensure children have access to those services, which have been defined as essential by the World Health Organisation. As we begin to re-set and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, health services must now plan and increasingly deliver more routine services. To support this, in March, we published Health and Social Care in Wales – COVID-19: Looking forward which sets out the high level approach we will take, building on new ways of working and opportunities to do things differently.

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the ability of children to access services, including essential services. It is therefore vital that health boards prioritise and consider the needs of children.

My officials are working with health boards to understand the impacts of the pandemic on paediatric surgery, in particular, where waiting times have been impacted as resources have been focused on Covid response. I expect health board recovery plans to include specific elements, with target dates, on the recovery and catch up of essential children’s services, including paediatric surgical services.

The health and care workforce and patients have been flexible in adapting to new ways of communicating and this has ensured people have access to the support they require, using a variety of approaches including telephone, digital and face-to-face contact.

Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, have worked together in multi-professional teams, adopting new digital ways of working, to deliver the highest quality of care and improve health outcomes.

Prime responsibility for the provision of speech and language therapy (SALT) services to children rests with the NHS. However, under the Education Act 1996, local authorities and schools are responsible for providing suitable educational provision for all children including those with special educational needs such as speech language and communication difficulties (SLCD).

All SALT services, both in Flying Start and specialist areas have continued to deliver services virtually throughout the pandemic using a range of innovative approaches which have been well received by families. The Attend Anywhere evaluation included very good representation of SALTs and their patients and was very positive overall.

The majority of children with SLCD will be supported by school-based interventions through differentiated teaching practice. Where a child’s needs fall outside of standard practice it may be more appropriate for school practitioners to deliver a regular and discrete programme of intervention under the guidance and supervision of a SALT. For some children a language programme that is an integral part of the whole school day is more appropriate.

Given the challenges all learners have faced during the pandemic and acknowledging that this impact has been significant, we have published guidance dedicated to the practical, emotional and learning needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged learners, including those with additional learning needs (ALN).

This guidance explains that local authorities’ statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for learners with special educational needs remain in place and have done throughout the pandemic. The guidance makes it clear that local authorities, schools and settings must continue to ensure the individual needs of learners are fully considered and must be mindful not to restrict the access to professionals that learners with special educational needs may benefit from, as to do so could be a breach of statutory special educational needs duties.

We have allocated an additional £17.8m to schools and colleges to support additional Learning Needs in 2020-21, £9.8m of which was specifically in response to pressures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. This is in addition to the £20m package of support for the ALN Transformation Programme already in place, and recognises the particular difficulties for children and young people with additional needs during the pandemic.