Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who have lost their voice or have difficulty speaking have access to communication equipment.

In 2014 NHS England undertook a procurement exercise to establish a network of specialised augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) services. There are now 14 specialised AAC services in England which assess and provide specialised communication equipment to patients with complex communication needs. These services are now receiving approximately 2,000 new referrals and supplying 1,300 new communication systems a year to patients with a range of disabilities.