Children face ‘catastrophic’ waits for care, leading doctors warn

22 May 2025, 00:35

A significant number of children are facing “catastrophic” waits for care in the community, leading children’s doctors have warned.

A new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) warns that long waits for care can cause "irreparable harm" and "lifelong impacts" in some cases.

Experts from the college said the waiting list for children in need of care in the community is increasing as they warned that lengthy waits for children can result in delayed starts to school and limitations on children socialising and playing sports, as well as mental health problems.

And the authors called into question Government plans to shift care from hospitals into the community, saying that without "urgent action" community waiting lists for children will "continue to grow".

Community paediatricians assess and manage a wide range of developmental, physical and social issues facing children.

The latest figures show that in March 2025 there were 314,432 children and young people waiting for community health services.

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This is compared to 272,625 in March 2024.

The RCPCH said that children and young people are waiting significantly longer than adults to access community health services, with 22% of those currently waiting for a year or more.

Among the children currently on waiting lists, 67,725 had been waiting more than a year, and 15,240 children - or 5% of all children on community waiting lists - had been waiting for more than two years.

This compares to 1.3% of adults are waiting for a year for community health services.

And while 86% of adults are seen within 18 weeks, only half (50%) of children and young people are seen within the same timeframe.

"Average waiting times for community child health services are now some of the longest of any part of the health system," according to an RCPCH report, seen by the PA news agency.

The report says that the current state of children's community services is "unsustainable".

"Children and young people (CYP) are waiting longer than adults to access healthcare in England," the authors add.

"Paediatric services are not recovering at the same rates as adult services, and there is a growing gap between demand and capacity."

Addressing ministerial plans to bring care closer to home, the authors said: "We urgently need transformational change in children's community services.

"The Government should urgently address the current long waiting times in community child health services as a core part of recovery plans, before progress can be made on a wider shift of care into the community."

Community paediatricians care for children with a number of conditions including those with developmental disorders and disabilities; those with complex health needs, including end of life care; children who have neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and ADHD. They also see children where there are safeguarding concerns, who are "looked after" or being adopted.

Dr Ronny Cheung, officer for health services at the RCPCH, said: "Lengthy waits are unacceptable for any patient but for children and young people the waits can be catastrophic, as many treatments need to be given by a specific age or developmental stage.

"Waits such as these can result in delayed starts to school, limitations on socialising, play sports, increased risk of poor mental health, behavioural problems and distress for both the child and their families.

"We want the NHS's 10-year plan to succeed, but we cannot shift care into the community while children are currently being left behind.

"Without urgent action, these waiting lists will continue to grow - and children will keep missing out on the vital care they need."

The report makes a series of recommendations, including: a waiting time target so children are all seen within a maximum of 18 weeks; work to address the "investment gap" between children and adult services and efforts to improve the children's community health workforce.

Commenting, Dr Douglas Simkiss, chair of the British Association for Community Child Health, said: "Community children's services are a vital but often overlooked component of the health care system.

"Implementing the recommendations in this report will have a tremendous positive impact for the children and families that rely on these services and the staff who work in them."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Too many children are not getting the care they need when they need it.

"This Government is committed to shifting care out of hospital and into the community: this is vital for children and their families, but it will take time.

"We are working to transform mental health services for children - hiring more staff and delivering more talking therapies - and putting mental health support in every school.

"We know more must be done and we are working with integrated care boards to understand the extent of the problem in each region so we can reduce waits for community health services."