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Kirsty Williams AM wins battle over speech therapy waiting lists
February 15, 2006 11:17 AM
The Welsh Assembly Government finally broke their silence on speech therapy this week, following Kirsty William's call for more information on waiting times.
The Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire said: "During my debate on speech therapy last month I called on the Government to publish the waiting list statistics. It turns out over 7,600 people are waiting in Wales. This is simply unacceptable."
Ms Williams said: "865 people are waiting for more than 72 weeks just to see a therapist. Yet for treatment to be effective it needs to be regular - and for children, 72 weeks is a very long time in their early development.
"Without early access to these services, children may never be able to catch up with their peers - their school work can suffer, their employment prospects worsen, they can face social exclusion. These are serious problems, and it is not just a handful of children that are affected - 7 per cent will have a speech and language problem.
"So for the Government to finally publish the waiting times data following my debate is a step towards addressing the problem. We have forced the Government to take notice. Now they must take action to speed up access to these vital services."
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