MPs and charities back campaign to bolster health visiting services
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
MPs and sector leaders are backing a campaign to strengthen health visiting services to ensure new parents are being effectively supported.
An open letter calling for further investment has been sent to health secretary Sajid Javid by the group, that is led by the NSPCC and backed by the Institute of Health Visiting and MPs including former children’s minister and Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham Tim Loughton.
They are particularly concerned that mental health problems among new parents are at risk of being overlooked despite the impact Covid-19 lockdowns have had on families’ wellbeing.
The call has come after it emerged that a fifth of babies did not receive their statutory 12-month health visitor review by the time they were 15 months old, according to NSPCC research.
This equates to a 10 per cent drop in the proportion of babies who had this review by the time there were 15 months old over the last five years, warns the charity.
Other MPs to sign the letter include Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Labour MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion, who is a former shadow minister for women and equalities.
The chief executives of Action for Children, Save the Children, National Children’s Bureau and Barnardo’s have also signed the letter to Javid, which is part of their "fight for a fair start" campaign to improve access to support for new parents.
“Health visitors play a vital role in identifying parents experiencing mental health problems and providing or arranging for support,” states the letter.
“But the health visiting workforce in England is at an all-time low and there are not enough health visitors to meet the level of need. Many families are not receiving the five health visiting reviews they are entitled to, or these vital checks are being delivered remotely, which makes it harder for professionals to identify perinatal mental health problems.”
It adds: “We are deeply concerned that under-resourced health visiting services are causing a postcode lottery of access to support. It takes real courage for parents to open up about mental health, and when they do, a helping hand should be there.”
The letter also cites research which has found that one in five mums and one in ten dads experience mental health problems during pregnancy and in their child’s first year.
Our open letter to @sajidjavid @DHSCgovuk, signed by 25 organisations, calls on the government to rebuild health visiting services and improve access to perinatal mental health support to give families a #FairStart.
— NSPCC (@NSPCC) May 16, 2022
Read it here: https://t.co/SGFGoVdJ24
One parent who has experienced postnatal depression and is backing the campaign is Nottinghamshire-based Natalie.
“I thought I was alone and I didn’t want anyone to know that I wasn’t really holding it together,” she said.
“The health visitors are so rushed, they haven’t got time to sit and chat about everything and they don’t know you, so they don’t know if the behaviour you’re exhibiting is normal for you, and it will probably be someone different next week.
"It’s difficult for the mother and for the health visitor because there just isn’t enough time or consistency.”
In December last year the Centre for Mental Health called for an investment strategy to tackle underfunding in mental health support for children. It said that children's emotional wellbeing has worsened due to "decades of underinvestment" in services such as health visiting.
