£1.5bn elective recovery fund allocated in England

The NHS in England has allocated £1.5bn to help restore elective care, manage increasing demand on mental health services and support workforce development.

This funding is welcome news. Speech and language therapists (SLTs), as part of the allied health professional (AHP) team, play a crucial role at every stage of the elective pathway and services need adequate funds to meet the challenges they now face.

However, with many services already stretched to the limit and staff in short supply, creative thinking will be needed to accommodate increasing demand.

Locally, chief AHPs and AHP councils are working with system leaders to identify how the funds can best be used. We encourage you to reach out to your local AHP leaders to discuss:

• How well placed are local speech and language therapy services to accommodate greater demand?
• How might service design and skill mix be adapted to make services more resilient?

Share your successes

If you have secured recovery funding to increase your service’s capacity, please help other members by sharing your story – email info@rcslt.org.uk.