Largs based MSP Jamie Greene has raised concerns in the Scottish Parliament regarding young people’s access to speech therapy services.


There is currently has a waiting list of over two years and is now closed to new applications as a result.
Jamie has received numerous concerns rom constituents regarding North Ayrshire’s Speech and Language Therapy Service.
Jamie challenged Health Secretary Humza Yousaf on whether or not he believed that the state of affairs was acceptable, and asked him to commit to increasing funding and staffing levels to help reduce the backlog.
In his reply, Humza stated he is aware of the situation, and disagreed with Jamie that funding was an issue. 
However, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists said that the situation in North Ayrshire not an isolated one due to drastic underfunding of the sector. 
Jamie said: “The huge backlog in children’s speech therapy is unacceptable and responsibility lies with the Health Secretary.
“It’s vital that young people who develop speech and language issues get help as soon as possible, so it is deeply concerning that young people locally are waiting two years or more to receive treatment if they even get on the waiting list in the first place.
“I will be writing to the Cabinet Secretary to urge him to provide more funding and information to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to bring this backlog down.”
James Stewart, former Chairperson of the Scottish Stammering Network said: "These waiting times must be really worrying for other parents whose children are currently waiting for speech therapy and will be forcing some parents into seeking private treatment for their children."