We need renewed focus on support for 0-5s

Having been involved in the Troubled Families programme since its inception and seen the difference a co-ordinated response to families can make, this is very good news. In Blackpool staff in the Families in Need team identified that the service needed to be available 365 days a year and outside regular working hours. This would provide the support families required and, importantly, it had to be agreed in consultation with families. Being involved in the programme made me recognise the need to support families much earlier, especially in the crucial first 1,001 days of life.

This is why 2020 being the Year of the Nurse and Midwife is so important – although I would change that title to midwife, health visitor, nursery nurse and school nurse. All are universal services provide support in direct proportion to need (progressive universalism).