Health services for children with SEND
Health services are commissioned by NHS North East London and mostly provided by NELFT. The 2025 inspection asked health leaders to improve waiting times "at pace" for neurodevelopmental assessment, CAMHS, continence and wheelchair services (Ofsted and Care Quality Commission, Area SEND inspection of Waltham Forest Local Area Partnership (April 2025), p. 6).
"Many wait up to a year for an autism or attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD) assessment." (Ofsted and Care Quality Commission, Area SEND inspection of Waltham Forest Local Area Partnership (April 2025), p. 3)
NHS waiting lists for children's community services
NHS England publishes monthly waiting lists for each community health provider. The council's own reports name NELFT (North East London NHS Foundation Trust) as the provider of children's therapies in Waltham Forest (London Borough of Waltham Forest, SEND Improvement Plan - Progress So Far (October 2025), p. 3). NELFT also serves other boroughs, so these figures are not for Waltham Forest alone.
Children waiting at the end of Aug 2026
"Over 18 weeks" and "over 52 weeks" count how long children on the list had already waited. The NHS says the waiting-time bands may not add up to the total, because some providers were still collecting data by weeks waited.
| Service | NELFT: children waiting | NELFT: over 18 weeks | NELFT: over 52 weeks | London: % over 18 weeks | England: % over 18 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community paediatrics | 5,129 | 3,935 (76.7%) | 1,594 | 66.2% | 74.0% |
| Speech and language therapy | 1,357 | 185 (13.6%) | 9 | 20.4% | 34.6% |
| Occupational therapy | 856 | 239 (27.9%) | 28 | 15.3% | 30.1% |
| Physiotherapy | 922 | 70 (7.6%) | 2 | 11.3% | 13.4% |
Children waiting over 18 weeks: community paediatrics
Show the numbers
| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 54.7% | 52.4% | 51.3% | 50.8% | 56.1% | 56.9% | 52.3% | 49.6% | 52.8% | 52.7% | 63.7% | 68.8% | 70.9% | 71.6% | 73.4% | 73.2% | 76.7% |
| London | 60.5% | 63.1% | 59.0% | 58.8% | 60.5% | 66.4% | 66.4% | 66.8% | 65.5% | 63.8% | 62.6% | 64.5% | 62.7% | 66.1% | 64.9% | 64.1% | 66.2% |
| England | 69.7% | 70.6% | 71.0% | 70.7% | 72.2% | 72.9% | 73.0% | 74.2% | 73.0% | 71.9% | 72.0% | 71.0% | 72.2% | 72.9% | 72.7% | 72.8% | 74.0% |
Children waiting over 18 weeks: speech and language therapy
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| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 10.8% | 10.8% | 10.9% | 11.3% | 12.3% | 14.1% | 12.0% | 12.8% | 12.9% | 13.4% | 13.4% | 11.4% | 10.6% | 9.5% | 11.6% | 13.5% | 13.6% |
| London | 21.5% | 20.0% | 22.7% | 23.0% | 21.1% | 20.4% | 22.1% | 19.2% | 18.3% | 17.8% | 18.7% | 19.4% | 19.3% | 18.9% | 19.4% | 19.5% | 20.4% |
| England | 35.1% | 36.7% | 37.5% | 38.8% | 40.2% | 40.7% | 38.7% | 37.5% | 33.4% | 32.3% | 32.5% | 32.6% | 32.4% | 31.9% | 32.8% | 33.8% | 34.6% |
Children waiting over 18 weeks: occupational therapy
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| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 42.2% | 39.4% | 37.1% | 32.2% | 35.5% | 34.7% | 32.8% | 33.5% | 29.6% | 28.9% | 27.4% | 28.3% | 29.7% | 28.0% | 30.0% | 26.7% | 27.9% |
| London | 24.5% | 24.2% | 22.9% | 21.4% | 22.6% | 21.9% | 22.2% | 21.1% | 19.8% | 18.8% | 19.4% | 19.6% | 19.1% | 18.2% | 17.3% | 16.6% | 15.3% |
| England | 29.0% | 28.3% | 27.7% | 28.0% | 29.1% | 31.0% | 27.2% | 27.6% | 29.9% | 27.1% | 26.5% | 26.6% | 26.9% | 26.4% | 27.7% | 29.2% | 30.1% |
Children waiting over 18 weeks: physiotherapy
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| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 5.3% | 4.8% | 4.3% | 5.5% | 7.4% | 9.0% | 7.2% | 7.2% | 8.3% | 5.6% | 5.3% | 5.0% | 5.8% | 4.9% | 6.2% | 4.9% | 7.6% |
| London | 6.4% | 6.5% | 5.7% | 7.9% | 10.9% | 11.5% | 13.6% | 10.0% | 9.8% | 9.5% | 9.4% | 12.3% | 11.5% | 10.5% | 10.0% | 9.6% | 11.3% |
| England | 11.2% | 9.9% | 9.8% | 11.2% | 11.5% | 13.2% | 16.5% | 12.9% | 17.9% | 13.3% | 13.6% | 13.4% | 13.2% | 11.5% | 12.5% | 12.9% | 13.4% |
Source: NHS England, Community health services waiting lists (management information, unvalidated): Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-April.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-May.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-June.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-July.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-August.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-September-1.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-October.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-November.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-December.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-January.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-February.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2025-26-March.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2026-27-April.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2026-27-May.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2026-27-June.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2026-27-July.xlsx; Community-health-services-waiting-lists-2026-27-August.xlsx. Extracted rows (zip)
Waiting for an autism assessment
NHS England publishes monthly figures on people referred for a suspected autism assessment. NICE guidance says an autism assessment should start within 3 months (13 weeks) of referral (NICE, Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis (CG128) (December 2017), recommendation 1.5.1).
"NELFT" counts children seen by the trust, which also works outside North East London. "North East London" counts children registered with a GP or living in the NHS North East London area, whichever provider they were referred to. Neither is for Waltham Forest alone. NHS England describes these as experimental statistics.
Children waiting for an autism assessment, Mar 2026
Children aged 0 to 17 with a suspected autism referral still open at the end of the month.
| Area | Children with an open referral | Open 13 weeks or more | Median wait for a first appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 4,305 | 95.4% | 431 days |
| North East London | 2,885 | 89.8% | 677 days |
| London | 8,475 | 85.4% | 531 days |
| England | 164,899 | 88.4% | 473 days |
Children whose autism referral has been open 13 weeks or more
Share of children with an open suspected autism referral whose referral had been open for at least 13 weeks.
Show the numbers
| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 88.9% | 90.5% | 91.1% | 90.9% | 93.7% | 94.3% | 95.4% | 94.6% | 95.0% | 95.3% | 96.0% | 95.4% |
| North East London | 90.5% | 90.4% | 89.2% | 87.7% | 89.6% | 91.8% | 92.6% | 91.6% | 90.6% | 90.8% | 90.0% | 89.8% |
| London | 86.8% | 86.9% | 86.4% | 84.5% | 86.9% | 87.6% | 87.1% | 85.9% | 85.2% | 85.6% | 85.4% | 85.4% |
| England | 89.3% | 89.6% | 90.0% | 88.3% | 89.7% | 90.7% | 91.5% | 90.2% | 89.5% | 89.1% | 89.3% | 88.4% |
Median wait for a first appointment (days)
Median days from referral to first appointment, for children whose first appointment was in the quarter up to that month.
Show the numbers
| Area | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 854 | 879 | 958 | 896 | 1,010 | 803 | 520 | 495 | 489 | 495 | 473 | 431 |
| North East London | 691 | 734 | 737 | 735 | 736 | 729 | 722 | 721 | 721 | 727 | 724 | 677 |
| London | 377 | 426 | 480 | 430 | 441 | 484 | 455 | 437 | 427 | 422 | 477 | 531 |
| England | 557 | 550 | 560 | 556 | 561 | 562 | 558 | 595 | 528 | 538 | 483 | 473 |
From Apr 2026: a break in the figures
In Apr 2026 the number of children NELFT reports as waiting fell from 4,305 to 505 in a single month. London and England show no such fall. NHS England's release gives no explanation. A change in how referrals are recorded or submitted is more likely than thousands of children being assessed in one month. Until this is explained, these months are shown separately and not added to the trend.
| Area | Apr 2026: waiting | May 2026: waiting | Jun 2026: waiting | Jun 2026: 13+ weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NELFT | 505 | 495 | 490 | 94.9% |
| North East London | 565 | 565 | 550 | 93.6% |
| London | 5,775 | 5,995 | 6,010 | 84.3% |
| England | 162,106 | 173,348 | 159,211 | 90.0% |
Source: NHS England, Autism waiting time statistics (experimental statistics): AutismStats_Apr2025_Mar2026_England_v1.zip; AutismStats_Apr2026_Jun2026_England_v1.zip. Extracted rows (zip)
What the council reports
| Item | March 2025 baseline | July 2025 | August 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational therapy: children waiting over 52 weeks | 33 | 42 | 37 |
| Speech and language therapy: children waiting over 52 weeks | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| CAMHS neurodevelopmental pathway: average wait once on pathway (weeks) | 48 | 46 | 39 |
| Under-5s autism assessment (SACC): children waiting over 52 weeks | 25 | 31 | 28 |
| Continence service: children waiting over 52 weeks | 4 | 25 | 13 |
The council reports that health advice for EHC needs assessments is returned within 6 weeks in "65-90%" of cases (London Borough of Waltham Forest, SEND Improvement Plan - Progress So Far (October 2025), p. 4). The legal deadline is 6 weeks (legislation.gov.uk, The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (September 2014), regulation 8). No exact figure or trend has been published.
In October 2025 the council said waits for occupational therapy "remain approximately one year", partly because therapists' time went into moving to a new community equipment provider. The previous provider went into insolvency on 31 July 2025 (London Borough of Waltham Forest, SEND Improvement Plan - Progress So Far (October 2025), pages 4 and 5).