Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase access to community child health services in Enfield North constituency.

We are committed to reducing community health care waiting lists for children and young people. That is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets commitments to grow the community workforce, with increases in training places for district nurses and allied health professionals, and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.

North Central London Integrated Care Board (ICB) and local authority partners are working collaboratively to improve support available to children and young people in North Enfield. In 2021, the local National Health Service carried out a detailed review of NHS community and mental health services for adults and children across North Central London to look at what services were being provided in each of the boroughs and whether they met the health needs of residents. As a result of these service reviews, the ICB has increased investment in children’s services over multiple years and is further boosting funding available to Enfield’s community children’s services in 2023/24. The ICB focus now is on the delivery and implementation of the core offer, ensuring that any additional investment is targeted where need is greatest.