The London Borough of Enfield has the highest infant mortality rate inthe capital and one of the worst ratios in England for the number ofhealth visitors to children aged under five.
The Unite/Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association saidthe number of health visitors employed by Enfield Primary Care Trust hasfallen by 13 since the start of 2007.
Earlier this year, the Family and Parenting Institute put Enfield PCT at137 out of 140 PCTs in England, with each of 34 health visitorsresponsible for an average of 627 under-fives.
Union representatives met local MPs last Friday in a bid to put pressureon Enfield PCT to tackle the crisis. MPs have agreed to meet the PCT'schief executive in the new year.
Tina Mackay, Unite regional health co-ordinator for London, said healthvisitors were at 'breaking point'.
She added, 'We also discussed how a lack of health visitors is leadingto a drop in the number of referrals for services like speech andlanguage therapy. Things are not being picked up, which puts pressure onschools.'
A quarter of health visitors in London are older than 55.
Ms Mackay said, 'We need the PCTs to take on trainees. Health visitorsare not being replaced and managers are relying on less qualified staffto take up the slack. Health visitors have told us that they fear morechildren will die because families do not have access to health visits.'
