2023 is here! A year that will hopefully see our standard of living overall slightly improve at the very least. Choice UK sadly doubts it will improve by a lot, especially with the current mixed economy strangling the life out of the free market. Maybe it'll be a year that'll see our healthcare system make gradual improvement? Surely it can't get much worse!
Whilst the Scottish Government have entered 2023 shouting, screaming and screeching about the Gender Reform Bill being blocked by the UK Government, Scotland's youth is ironically losing its voice.
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) have astonishingly come out and asked for a plan within Scotland, to improve children's spoken language skills and give parents the necessary tools, resources and strategies needed to support their children.
Around 275,000 children across Scotland are thought to have at least some form of communication issue or difficulty. Health board waiting lists currently sit at approximately 18 months, in the least represented areas of the country, for support. This is 18 months worth of developmental delay and potential regression.
This is a classic supply and demand issue that has been caused by the nationalisation of our healthcare system and it needs to be addressed immediately. Just why is it so bad?
Funding.
There have been cuts on this specific area of our healthcare system. This is further proved by the RCSLT asking for the significant funding issue to be addressed and rectified so they can work through this apparent backlog of children needing this vital support. Moreover there is an apparent shortage of therapists in Scotland, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country.
With a lack of funding, how do we aim to train more people to come in and do the job so desperately needed to help our young ones? Of course, the Scottish Government are far more interested and invested in getting a Gender Reform Bill through instead.
In my last post about an NHS related issue to do with the state of the Mental Health in our country, I highlighted the underfunding and understaffing within this specific area of our healthcare system. It seems, yet again, this is another glaringly miserable situation created by the neglect of our Scottish Government, too concerned about other things most of our country don't even want.