82% of NHS trusts questioned were struggling to meet demand (Image: Getty) A “forgotten generation” of youngsters are having their lives blighted by NHS care delays, a damning report warns. A survey of 134 healthcare trusts by NHS Providers found an overwhelming 97 percent had seen demand for children and young people’s services rise since the pandemic. Some 86 percent had seen waiting times for initial assessments increase and 82 percent said they were unable to meet demand.
Increased waiting times were impacting young patients across a range of services including paediatric surgery, health visiting, speech and language therapy, hearing tests and neurodevelopment services. function loadOvpScript(){let el=document.createElement('script');el.
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Log('[Load] OVP tcfLoaded',new Date())})}},1500)}) One trust reported that waits for children's autism assessments had increased from around 14 months pre-pandemic to 38 months now. READ MORE: Radical plan to slash NHS backlog by getting patients 'back to work' Don't miss..
. Keir Starmer begins work 'straight away' to end NHS crisis [LATEST] Older people 'fobbed off' in struggle to access NHS and social care [LATEST] BBC QT's Fiona Bruce savages SNP record as she slams 'worse' NHS waiting times [LATEST] Sir Julian Hartley, NHS Providers chief executive, warned that delays could have a significant impact on youngsters’ social development and education. He added: “We’re in danger of seeing a forgotten generation of young people.
Too many young lives are being blighted by delays to accessing vital NHS care. “Preventing ill health among children and young people is central to ensuring the next generation are able to live well, thrive and contribute to society and the economy.” Greater complexity and severity of patients’ needs, insufficient services being commissioned and staff shortages were all impacting waiting times, the report found.
Nine in ten trust leaders who responded to the survey also said they believed health and wellbeing of children was not considered enough in national policy. The report noted that many long-term health conditions develop during childhood. For example, 75 percent of mental health problems occur before the age of 24.
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They need a say too in the national policies that affect them and the services they use.” Commenting on the findings, the Royal College of Nursing’s executive director, Patricia Marquis, said it was “time for action”. She added: “Despite the importance of early intervention in improving outcomes, there has been a steep fall in health visitor and school nurse numbers, meaning those that need assessments and care in the community are facing long waits.
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Read our Privacy Policy “Children’s mental health and learning disability services are also in crisis with too few nursing staff to meet the demands of vulnerable children. The situation requires urgent intervention.” A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the care they deserve, and we know that waits for services are far too long.
We are determined to change that. “The government is committed to giving children a healthy, happy start to life, and giving mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. “We will provide specialist mental health support in every school and walk-in mental health hubs in every community.
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