Babies are missing out on vital health checks because of public health budget cuts

Spending cuts are preventing 95 per cent of health visitors from adequately protecting and supporting mothers and babies, according to a new survey.

The Institute of Health Visiting’s State of Health Visiting Survey 2016 revealed the drastic impact local authority health budget cuts are having on the services provided by health visitors.

Of the 1,224 health visitors surveyed, 85 per cent said that their workload has increased over the past two years, with 16 per cent reporting caseloads of between 500 and 1,000 children – more than double the recommended caseload of 250.

This means that babies and mothers are not receiving the care and attention that they require at developmental milestones.

Dr Cheryl Adams, executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said: “Our annual survey of the state of health visiting shows a radical downgrading of this public health asset, which serves the most formative period of children’s lives.

“Health visitors should provide a universal service to every family in the country with a child under the age of five.

“This survey hence exposes the risks to all children and families from a decommissioning of health visitor posts, which it seems is just about to accelerate.”

30 per cent of families don’t receive the necessary health visits

Health visitors are believed to be the most frequently used and trusted source of advice on child health and parenting issues.

Yet the Health Visiting Survey found that only 30 per cent of all families receive an antenatal health visit, while just 70 per cent receive the mandated health visitor review at six to eight weeks, one year, and two to two-and-a-half years.

There is also further cause for concern since 80 per cent of the health visitors surveyed reported seeing an increase in domestic violence, abuse and perinatal depression in the families they visit.

According to Dr Adams, the reduction in the number of health visitors caused by budgets cuts will have a “knock-on effect on the NHS and other local authority services such as safeguarding services.”

Rise in health inequality

She added: “We can expect increased use of secondary health and local authority children’s services in the short, medium and longer term as many health and social concerns won’t be identified early enough.

“The cuts will also increase health inequalities as needy families will be missed until their problems are obvious.”

Shirly Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, echoed the Institute of Health Visiting’s calls on the Government to reinvest in public health and stop cuts to the health visiting service to protect and support mothers and babies, and avoid putting further strain on other health services.

She said: “Access to this service is a universal right, and if overstretched health visitors are unable to deliver the service to every family then it can only exacerbate already widening health inequalities.

“Every child deserves the best start and best chances for a long and healthy life – the Government must invest in healthy starts to ensure healthy futures, and prevent the health service from having to pick up a heftier financial tab further down the line.”