Speech and Language Therapists (Hansard, 22 November 2000)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)
My Lords, the number of qualified speech and language therapists increased by 310 between September 1997 and September 1999. The NHS plan will see a further 6,500 therapists and other health professionals by 813 2004. The department's recruitment and retention strategy embraces this important and valued group of staff.

§ Lord Faulkner of Worcester
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. Is he aware that there is still a serious shortage of therapists? As a result, waiting lists are long and vulnerable children are not getting the assessments and treatment that they need. Is he satisfied that the problems which were identified in the study carried out by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists last year of poor morale, low pay and poor recognition have been addressed and that, therefore, speech and language therapists can expect the increase in recruitment to which my noble friend referred and can continue to perform their absolutely invaluable role in helping children overcome their communication difficulties?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I certainly share my noble friend's view of the importance of speech therapists. I also acknowledge, as I did in my main Answer, that we need to see further increases in the number of speech and language therapists employed within the National Health Service. We have made good progress in the past two years; and we shall be looking at the number of training places that are available as one way in which to increase the numbers of therapists in the long term.
My noble friend referred to morale. In common with other groups of non-pay review body staff, speech and language therapists have benefited from an above inflation pay increase this year. Additionally, a new pay and grading structure was introduced on 1st April 2000. This importantly extended the existing pay spine for speech therapists in line with that of clinical psychologists. That will increase the pay availability for senior speech and language therapists by around £20,000.

§ Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, I welcome what the Minister said on cases of equal value and the settlement of those cases earlier in the year. One of the reasons for problems with the morale of speech and language therapists referred to in the survey mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, is the constant change in reorganisation of the National Health Service. How will the Government's new proposals on regulation of the professions allied to medicine improve that? Surely, they will only compound that problem.

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I do not agree with that but over the past 20 years the various managerial changes have adversely impacted on many of the professions allied and supplementary to medicine. Part of our strategy in relation to those professions is to ensure that at local level their views, concerns and management are given sufficient attention by the boards of NHS trusts.
But so far as concerns regulation, what is proposed in the consultation paper that we are considering will enhance the whole regulatory process for this and 814 other similar professions. It will speed up disciplinary processes and enhance public confidence. Through that I believe new confidence will be established among the professions.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, since speech therapists were accepted as a profession supplementary to medicine, does the noble Lord agree that there has been an increasing demand for them and never enough of them, particularly because they can perform important functions, for example, when someone has a sudden paralysing stroke and all means of communication come to an end?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I do not disagree at all with what the noble Lord has said. There is no doubt that communication is vital to everyone's lives in this country. Speech and language therapists work with people of all ages, not just children. They have a valuable role to play. I am sure that in the future we will need even more speech therapists than we have at the moment. That is why, alongside a review of the training places, we shall be working with the appropriate professional body to examine our future requirements to make sure that the NHS is in a position to take advantage of the profession.

§ Lord Rix
My Lords, is the Minister aware of the extreme difficulty faced by adults, as opposed to children, with a learning disability in accessing the services of people concerned with speech therapy? If the Minister is so aware, can he suggest solution to the problem?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I am well aware of the issues that are being faced and of the waiting that some members of the public undergo in order to access speech and language therapists. We are making progress. We have seen an increase in the numbers of therapists employed in the past two years. We shall be increasing the number of training places. Most importantly, we have commissioned a labour market analysis of speech and language therapists. The result of that project, which is expected next spring, will be used to inform recommendations on future training places. Clearly, that takes time. I want to ensure that in the meantime we do everything we can to recruit more people back into the profession.

§ Lord Clinton-Davis
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who suffered a stroke and has had invaluable help from a speech therapist. While the Government certainly deserve a great deal of praise for what they have done, does my noble friend agree that there is a housing problem for NHS staff in London and the South East? What steps are the Government taking to deal with that problem?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely right. The long-term vacancies for speech therapists in London are 5.9 per cent compared with the English average of 3.4 per cent. We are exercised in relation to the facilitation of affordable 815 accommodation for NHS staff in London. We have appointed Mr John Yates to help us develop schemes to arrange affordable accommodation for such staff. Those will include speech therapists.