wait time for NHS speech therapy? Post Reply

[2009Kat]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of how long the wait for speech therapy on the NHS for a pre-school child in Wandsworth tends to be? My little one might need some help but is unlikely to be classed as an urgent case.... Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[mummyof1]

I dont have experience of this service but i do know the threshold will be high to be offered the service - have you been referred? -

Regarding waiting times - i would call the service and ask. I recently use the Occupational Health service based at Roehampton - and my daughter waited 6 weeks for advice appointment - didn't meet the threshold although does need OT support and when i asked if i had met what the time wait was it was 18 weeks the maximum statutory wait time. To be honest even if been offered free i wouldn't have waited this long so have gone privately.

[EK7]

We started speech therapy with our 3 year old 2 years ago. We waited about 4 weeks to be seen by a speech therapist a Tooting Health centre. Once he was assessed he began speech sessions 4 or 5 weeks later. I also have a friend who had her little girl assessed 6 months ago - time frames were about the same. You can ring them directly and self refer if you are concerned. I would recommend doing that. We initially spoke to our GP and got a referral to St George's - it got lost twice and then turned out it should have been a community referral.  Once I spoke to Tooting Heath clinic it was all very smooth.....

[2009Kat]

Thank you so much for replying,that is really helpful especially knowing I can self refer.

[Transatlantichik]

We went to our GP when our lad was about 2yo. We were told we could self refer - contact details on Wandsworth council website. We got to see someone at Tudor Lodge a few weeks later. We have been going there the last 2 years now, and alter the frequency of visits depending on how bad his stammer is.

Looks like they also do drop in sessions across the borough now:

http://fis.wandsworth.gov.uk/kb5/wandsw ... annel=2051

Good luck. We have seen a significant improvement with his sessions. x

[alessandra74G]

Hello!
I didn't have to wait long for my daughter (around 4 weeks). I didn't have to go to my GP, I just expressed my concern to a speech therapist at a drop in session and she referred her straight away. I have to say the team is very professional and competent, the sessions were held at Balham Heath Centre and have helped my daughter a lot.

Alessandra

[Beebee100]

Hi
I hope you get seen quickly and that you do qualify for therapy. However, if not then I am an independent speech and language therapist and am happy to help if I can.
If you just want an initial chat over the phone, then call me 07803 596084.

[Kyoung78]

I had my son's speech referral through yesterday and it has been just over 3 weeks since we saw the GP for the referral. I got a letter saying we had been added to their caseload and to phone to book an appointment so not 100% sure yet how long it will take for him to be seen but the referral came through pretty quickly!

HTH!

[GES77]

From my experience, the SALT (Speech & language Therapist/s) are not keen to do one-to-one work until the child is at least three years old. Up until that time (between 2 and 3 years old), they are generally referred to group sessions - these are obviously cheaper and also most S&L issues start to resolve around 3 years old.

Either way, you will definitely need a GP referral and it could be worth looking at private in the interim although we did some private work around 2 years old and my son was just too young to concentrate and cooperate.

From 3.5 years old, the one-to one has really helped. And now at 4.5, the improvement is huge - as his SALT (NHS) says, he is now developmentally able to actually make the sounds which at 2 years old he simply couldn't. He will probably need another year of support.

Good luck!

[Beebee100]

The age at which speech and language therapy is useful for a child depends on the issues that child is experiencing. It may be appropriate to see a SLT at 2yrs or even younger. It is true GES77 that 'sound work' is more appropriate at 3.5yrs but if the child's language skills are very good then earlier input may be relevant. If you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills then advice from an SLT is a good idea and then the management of that child's therapy can be agreed.
You do not need a GP referral as you can self refer both on NHS as well as independently.
Hope that's usefuk.