Families are facing increasingly complex health and developmental challenges, yet the support they need is becoming harder to access.
A report out this morning from the The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) also found that there were massive differences in the availability of health visitor services across the UK, creating a postcode lottery that leaves many families without essential early support that can make such a big difference.
Health visitors meanwhile are under immense pressure, with unmanageable workloads, enormous caseloads and a longstanding workforce crisis that is threatening the sustainability of services.
The report underscores the urgent need for government intervention to address these critical issues. Without immediate action to increase the number of health visitors, the health and wellbeing of countless families and children are at risk.
The Government has committed to change the trajectory to raise the ‘healthiest generation of children ever’, ‘strengthen health visiting’, and shift the dial from ‘sickness to prevention’. There is a clear imperative to act now for the benefit of all babies, children and families, but there is much work to be done to achieve this.
Alison Morton, iHV CEO says
“The report highlights the urgent need for investment in health visiting services. Health visitors want to deliver high-quality, personalised, and equitable healthcare to all families – but this cannot remain a “hope” that is limited to words in the pages of policy. We need to get the basics right and this requires action to rebuild the health visiting workforce that has been cut beyond the bone in too many areas.
“The needs of babies, children and families must lie at the heart of all service transformation – currently too many have been left waiting too long without the support that they need, which we know can make such a big difference to their outcomes. Failing to act is a false economy. Childhood matters because it is short – there is no time to lose, the devastating impacts of not intervening are well known and have both a human and economic cost.
“Whilst the current picture is bleak, we remain optimistic for a better future. The findings demonstrate that, despite the current challenges and unacceptable disparities in healthcare, change is possible. The health visiting workforce is ready, willing and able to play its part to halt the decline and rebuild, to ensure that the UK has a world-class health visiting service so every baby can have the best start in life.”
