I am sorry to see that the health visiting
profession appears to be coming under renewed pressure. A survey of health
visitors by Unite, published this month, found that:
- Nearly 60 % reported big increases in individual workloads during the last year
- 44 % reported a drop in morale, most attributing that to increased workplace stress
- 70 % reported ‘frequent’ staff shortages in the last 12 months
- More than 85% reported that they work more than their contracted hours
- More than 60% said that their overtime was unpaid
Despite a long and distinguished history of
playing a central role in children’s health, welfare and development, health
visiting services in England suffered unjustifiable reductions in the early
years of the 21st Century which were reversed to some extent
following 2010.
The service provides essential professional
contact with pre-school children, facilitating advice and support for families
and surveillance of child health.
Now, however, it seems that the service is
not keeping pace with continued high demand. Unite’s Sarah Carpenter is
reported as saying:
“Ministers need to wake-up to the fact that
the progress made by the last government with the Health Visitor Implementation
Plan, which boosted the workforce by more than 4,000, could be jeopardised with
all the adverse impact this would have on families, children and the wider
public health agenda.”
Health visiting should not be underfunded.
Essential contact with some young families under stress will be lost if health
visitors are over-stretched, putting children at greater risk. As the coalition
government realised in 2010, a sensible, justifiable and effective universal
service should not be a target for quick-fix savings. The present government
needs to realise that before it is too late.
