At the same time, there continues to be a severe shortage of health visitors and ‘significant’ disparities in service provision, reveal findings from the Institute of Health Visiting’s (iHV) survey.
The ‘State of Health Visiting, UK Survey Report - From disparity to opportunity: The case for rebuilding health visiting’, finds:
- 84 per cent of practitioners reported that the demand for health visiting support had increased over the last 12 months; however, the workforce has not kept pace with the increasing needs and practitioners reported falling health visitor numbers across all UK nations.
- Families want personalised care. But only 45 per cent of health visitors in England are able to provide continuity of carer to families ‘all or most of the time’ compared to 90 per cent in Scotland, 86 per cent in Northern Ireland and 85 per cent in Wales.
- In England, demand for health visiting support is currently far in excess of what services are commissioned and able to provide; 73 per cent of health visitors said workforce shortages impacted on their ability to support families when a need was identified.
- Increased demand by families for health visiting support over the last 12 months was mainly driven by perinatal mental health problems.
- Practitioners have also seen soaring demand for support for child behaviour problems, including growing concerns about neurodevelopmental issues like autism and ADHD.
- Health visitors in England said that their practice was dominated by social concerns; with more families needing help with the impacts of poverty and with babies/children who have safeguarding concerns below the threshold for children’s social care.
Alison Morton, chief executive of the iHV, said, ‘The report highlights the urgent need for investment in health visiting services.
‘The needs of babies, children and families must lie at the heart of all service transformation – currently too many have been left waiting too long without the support that they need, which we know can make such a big difference to their outcomes.
‘While the current picture is bleak, we remain optimistic for a better future. The findings demonstrate that, despite the current challenges and unacceptable disparities in healthcare, change is possible.’
The iHV is calling for the following changes:
Funding -A realistic and accurate level of funding that reflects the true scale of need for health visiting services.
Workforce – Train, retain and reform the health visiting workforce across the UK. In England specifically, deliver the national long-term workforce plan in full, ensure accurate workforce forecasting to meet the scale of need; and, in line with other UK nations, develop a robust, evidence-based safer staffing tool to ensure safe and effective care.
Quality – National government must do more to end the current postcode lottery of health visiting support.
