We wholeheartedly support the Family and Parenting Institute's campaign to secure a well-funded, well-trained universal health visitor service accessible for all parents of children under five.
Children's services also face a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing health visitors. The expectation is that health visitors will be integral to the 'one-stop shop' approach and they will link to other services.
However, while the children's centre agenda is central to Government policy, it is questionable whether it is part of Primary Care Trust (PCT) plans, or given necessary weight.
This means families are in danger of not getting the vital early support they need. Furthermore, with such countrywide variation there is a real question about equality of opportunity for all families to access support.
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