Health visiting is one of the few children's professions earmarked for a recruitment drive in these austere times. The coalition government has pledged to recruit 4,200 extra health visitors over the next four years.
This increase in numbers is desperately needed, given the dwindling staff numbers and increasing caseloads faced by those in the profession.
Norma Dudley, a specialist early intervention health visitor who supports families with premature babies in London, says she feels "very encouraged" by the coalition's pledge to boost the numbers entering the sector.
"Health visiting can have enormous positive benefits for families, but at present many do not have the capacity to give sufficient time to respond to all the needs they perceive. There are simply not enough of us to go round," she says.
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