Cuts threaten health visitor plan
Neil Puffett
Monday, June 28, 2010
The introduction of a two-year pay freeze for public sector workers places Conservative plans to recruit 4,200 additional health visitors by the end of the current parliament in serious jeopardy, it has been claimed.
The plan to boost support for mothers with young children was a key election pledge for the party, but details of how it will be achieved are yet to be published.
Campaigners have been concerned about dwindling numbers of health visitors and high caseloads for years, with experts citing pay levels as one of the major barriers to recruiting new practitioners and retaining existing ones.
Obi Amadi, lead professional officer at the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, said the pay freeze announced in last week's emergency Budget will make it more difficult to attract new health visitors and may lead to some leaving the profession altogether.
"Experienced health visitors could decide to go on the management ladder or go into education," she said.
"This can take experienced health visitors who achieve really good outcomes away from clinical work."
Mothers of young children who receive support from health visitors could now suffer a double blow because of other measures announced in the emergency Budget.
The £500 Sure Start maternity grant given to low-income families to help towards the cost of a new baby will be restricted to the first child, while the health in pregnancy grant of £190, introduced to ensure mothers-to-be eat healthily, will be scrapped next April.
The Department for Education was unavailable for comment as CYP Now went to press.
