Health visitor trainees face drastic cuts

More than 40 per cent of health visitor training places have been cut in England this year, according to a healthcare trade union. Amicus/Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association (CPHVA) surveyed 43 higher education institutions and over three quarters responded after they invoked the Freedom of Information Act. The union found that the number of health visitors trained in 2006-07 was 329, dropping from 554 in 2005-06, despite about 800 applications for places. There was also a 10 per cent fall in school nurses training and a 51 per cent drop in training places for district nurses.