Nursery World - Overworked health visitors to get help

More health visitors are to be recruited to work in one of the most deprived areas of London, following crisis talks between the union Unite and the Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust.

Health visitors in Barking and Dagenham are handling individual caseloads of up to nearly 4,000 children, according to the union.

The PCT has confirmed that 24 more full-time specialist community nurses will be appointed. From September the trust will also train nine new specialist community public health nurses.

Unite, which represents community nurses and health visitors through the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, had been campaigning for new jobs in the borough, where the health visitor vacancy rate is running at 45 per cent.

The PCT used to have 32 whole-time equivalent health visitors, but the workforce had been nearly halved, with over 14 jobs vacant.

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