Can the Government deliver its commitment to vulnerable families - or indeed to all families - given the alarming decline in health visitor services? Mary Evans reports
Parents face a postcode lottery when it comes to seeing a health visitor. The future of the universal health visiting service is in jeopardy as the profession's ranks have dropped to a 13-year low and the number of training places has been cut to about 300, according to campaigners.
'Numbers are falling, in part, because there is a move towards more of a skill mix in health visiting teams and a grade mix because of the financial deficits in many Primary Health Care Trusts,' says Dr Cheryll Adams, health sector lead professional officer of trade union Amicus. 'When a health visitor leaves, retires or moves, they are frequently not replaced with another health visitor. That process actually started ten to 12 years ago. Health visitors are working in a preventive role with long-term outcomes. If you have to save 500,000 now, you only look short-term.'
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