On an NHS Speech Therapy Waiting List: What to Do
Written by the Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center therapy team — our Speech & Language Therapist, psychology and ABA staff. Clinical reviewer for this site: Dr Muhammad Suffyan, MB BS (GMC 8023727) · Updated August 2026; this page has changed since our last clinical review.
Keep the NHS referral. Use the wait. In many parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, children’s speech and language therapy waits run to months. The list is still worth holding. What is not worth doing is nothing until the letter arrives.
This page is for families in the UK — including British-Pakistani homes — who have been told to wait. The full UK coaching page is online support for UK families. How to start the NHS route at all is on get help where you live.
What to do this week without us
- Ask how long, in writing. Ring the service. Ask the current wait, whether you can self-refer if you have not, and whether there is a cancellation list. Write the answers down.
- Ask nursery or school to start now. They do not need a diagnosis. Seating, one instruction, extra time to start. Classroom support. If speech is the issue: speech in class.
- Count words in every language. Urdu plus English is one vocabulary. Bilingualism does not cause delay.
- Hearing if there is any doubt. Glue ear impersonates late talking. GP or health visitor can start that. Glue ear.
- Five habits at home. Model, wait five seconds, narrate routines, one calm language from the adult who is fluent, screens off during talk. Parent toolkit.
Where we fit — and where we do not
Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center is in Multan. We are not an NHS provider. We hold no UK registration. We cannot write an EHCP, sit in a multidisciplinary clinic, or jump the queue. What we can do on video, in Urdu or English, is coach you through those home hours so the wait is not empty. Details: online Urdu speech therapy abroad.
UK morning slots (about 9am to 1pm) sit inside our 2pm to 6pm Multan hours. After-school is after we close. Time zones.
If your child has lost skills, does not respond to sound, or is choking on drinks, that is a GP or A&E conversation, not a coaching booking.
A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes. Bring the NHS letter if you have one. Tell us your child’s age and the wait you were quoted. We will tell you if the next step is us, school, or a hearing test.
Frequently asked questions
Will working with you get us seen faster on the NHS?
No. We cannot jump a UK waiting list. We coach you at home so those months are not empty. Keep the referral.
Can you write our EHCP?
No. An EHC needs assessment is a local-authority process in England. We can give a plain summary of what we see. We will not produce a document that pretends to be an NHS or council report. Scotland uses different paperwork.
Should we go fully private in the UK instead?
Some families do both: NHS list plus a local HCPC-registered therapist. We are the Urdu-and-English home-coaching layer from Multan, not a UK private clinic. If you want a UK-registered SLT in the room, search the RCSLT or ASLTIP directories.
Nursery said wait and see. Should we?
Only with a date. Ask what they expect to see and by when. If that date passes, go back, and speak to the GP or health visitor as well. A vague wait is not a plan.
We speak Urdu at home. Will that slow the NHS work?
No. Tell the NHS therapist both languages. Count words together. Do not drop Urdu to make the English list look longer.
What time can a UK family book with you?
Monday to Friday, 2pm to 6pm Pakistan time — roughly 9am to 1pm in the UK. A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.