England's health visiting system not equipped for pandemic, charities warn

A survey of thousands of parents, carried out by charities including Best Beginnings, Home Start UK and Parent-Infant Foundation, during lockdown and found that just 11 per cent of parents with children under the age of two had seen a health visitor face-to-face.

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• Interview: The voice of health visiting: Cheryll Adams, executive director, Institute of Health Visiting

This left parents without vital support in areas such as nutrition, the charities say, adding that just over a quarter (28 per cent) of those who are breastfeeding feel they have not had the support they require.

One mother surveyed said: “Not having face-to-face visits with health visitors or midwives in the weeks following the birth, makes me anxious that she hasn’t been checked for any potential health concerns which may have arisen after birth.”

NHS services have been making digital health appointments available for parents with young children.

But women surveyed said these online consultations left them “feeling exposed and humiliated”.

One mother with a one-month old baby said that they were asked to provide photos of a wound and infection from childbirth.

“This felt completely wrong, a complete invasion of my privacy, as I was being asked to send an email containing photos of my vagina and perineum to a generic GP practice email address to ensure I could receive antibiotics for the infection,” said the mother.

More than 5,000 families were surveyed between April and June about the support they are receiving.

The charities involved in the survey, which also includes the Institute of Health Visiting and NSPCC, have written an open letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, backed with a 2,000-strong petition, calling for health visiting services to be prioritised.

They are particularly concerned that health visitor services were already under funded prior to the pandemic.

“Without the right support, perinatal mental health problems, and difficulties in the parent-infant relationship can have serious immediate and long-term consequences for both children and families,” said NSPCC public affairs manager Andrew Fellowes.

“We want to be very clear that the government is at risk of failing a generation of children if it does not commit to rebuilding the nation’s public health services for families. Before the pandemic began the health visiting service was struggling to support parents and babies across the country, and we know it is not equipped to meet the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic."

Outgoing Institute of Health visiting executive director Dr Cheryll Adams added: “Over the past five years we have seen an average 30 per cent reduction in the number of health visitors in England, accompanied by a massive variation in these losses across the country.

“The average health visitor caseload is now 500 children, double the recommended number. The number of invisible vulnerable babies will have increased and perinatal mental illness is already reported by health visitors to be sky-rocketing.

“The whole population will also be paying the price - the erosion of the health visitor role results in kicking the can down the road where the impact is picked up by other much more costly services.”