Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) speech and language therapy, (b) physiotherapy, (c) psychological support and (d) other elements of stroke rehabilitation.

NHS England has set clear ambitions for community health services through its Medium Term Planning Framework. By 2028/29, 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care.

The Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation (SQuIRe) programme has increased national coverage of the National Integrated Community Stroke Service model across the health, social care, and voluntary sectors. This has been achieved through SQuIRe Catalyst projects delivering needs-based stroke rehabilitation at home, including psychological and vocational rehabilitation.