Pressures on overstretched health visitors near breaking point

The chief executive of the Institute of Health Visiting has warned that overstretched health visitors have been forced to care for up to 2,400 families with newborns at a time.

250 is considered to be a ‘safe’ number for a health visitor to be responsible for, but the coronavirus pandemic has meant that some health visitors are being forced to car for 10 times the recommended number.

Health visitors look after health and development from birth until the age of five. Last year, there were 6,931 full-time equivalent health visitors in England, a drop of 3,378 since the peak of 10,309 in October 2015

Cheryll Adams, the chief executive of the Institute of Health Visiting, told the Guardian that there are increasing fears that breastfeeding rates will drop to new lows and a generation of babies could face a troubled future as a result of the current health climate.

Whilst the number of health visitors has been cut by 30 per cent in the last five years, since April this year, Adams claims that as many as 50 per cent of staff were redeployed in some areas.

Whilst she praised health workers and their trusts for their innovation and determination to care for newborns and their parents, pointing to services moved online, Adams said she is fearful of the long-term impact of a lack of face-to-face visits. This is both likely to be seen in a group of babies who will have increased needs, including the need for secondary services as they get older, as well as more directly in exacerbating a long-term decline in breastfeeding rates in the UK.