Despite across-the-board cuts to children's services, the government's commitment to recruit 4,200 more health visitors remains intact. Public health minister Anne Milton reiterated the pledge in front of hundreds of health visitors at the Unite Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association conference in Harrogate late last month.
But while her assurances were initially met with rapturous applause, concerns remain about the lack of detail that has been released about how this target will be met.
Milton admits the profession "has been eroded dramatically over the past decade", but the government is yet to reveal how it will tackle problems affecting the profession. The ageing workforce remains a concern, with NHS workforce statistics for 2008 showing 20 per cent of health visitors are aged over 55 and 40 per cent are over 50.
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