Health visitor shortage leaves services unable to support vulnerable babies, report warns
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Health visiting services lack the capacity to support increasing numbers of vulnerable children due to a shortage of thousands of workers, a survey warns.
The Institute of Health Visiting’s (IHV) State of Health Visiting report highlights a national shortage of around 5,000 health visitors in England, with 79 per cent of staff saying health visiting services lack capacity to offer a package of support to all children with identified needs.
“Babies and young children living with risk and vulnerability are less likely to be detected as health visitors have reduced contact with families,” the report warns.
Reflecting on the last 12 months, 80 per cent of health visitors said that other services were also stretched and lacked capacity to pick up onward referrals for children with additional needs. This is leading to a growing number of vulnerable babies and children “falling below increasing thresholds for children’s social care”, it adds.
“Thresholds for children’s social care support had increased and other services had long waiting lists,” respondents said.
Meanwhile, 93 per cent of health visitors reported an increase in the number of families affected by poverty over the same time period.
An increase in the use of foodbanks among families, perinatal mental health issues and domestic violence as well as homelessness, were also cited as key concerns by professionals.
A further 82 per cent of health visitors reported an increase in children with speech, language and communication delays while seven in 10 health visitors said they had seen an increase in child behavioural problems.
Alison Morton, chief executive of the IHV, said the results showed that “parenting has become much harder for many families over the last 12 months”.
“The situation is getting worse with more children falling behind with their development and widening health inequalities. As babies can’t speak for themselves, health visitors provide a vital ‘voice’ for our youngest citizens and an important warning signal for policymakers who are prepared to listen. It doesn’t have to be this way, change is possible,” she added.
The IHV is calling for a cross-government commitment that prioritises and invests in the first 1,001 days of children’s lives including a strategy to strengthen health visiting in England and a greater focus on early intervention across all organisations support young children and babies.
