6 | Nursing in Practice | Summer 2022
COVER STORY
Challenges in child health
Against a backdrop of rising need and ever-tighter resources, nurses continue to push for babies, young children and their parents to receive effective care – but want more support and investment from the Government. Kathy Oxtoby reports
The cost of living crisis continues to have a significant impact on families, and the challenges that confront health visitors and nurses supporting babies, children and parents are greater than ever, practitioners have told Nursing in Practice.
A growing backlog of care arising from the Covid pandemic, and the pressing need to deal with more complex cases and conditions are just some of the pressures being faced.
While demand for services that support families with young children is escalating, the resources required to deliver that support are decreasing, with nurses reporting funding cuts and staff shortages.
In health visiting, for example, the level of pressure has become so great that in May, the Institute of Health Visiting( iHV) co-signed an open letter spearheaded by the NSPCC, calling on the Government to rebuild the health visiting service and improve access to mental health services for new parents.
The organisation said health visitors play a vital role in identifying parents who are experiencing mental health problems and in providing or arranging support, but that the workforce in England is‘ at an all-time low and there are not enough health visitors to meet the level of need’.
Executive director of iHV Alison Morton goes further, warning that the health visiting workforce is so depleted that she has recently heard of health visitors who are expected to handle a caseload of around 4,000 children,‘ which is clearly unmanageable’, she says.
Nurses have responded to the care backlog with new ways of working. In some areas, for example, practice nurses have been supporting health visitors with their workload, and continue to offer some virtual consultations to boost access to services. And nursing bodies are lobbying hard on behalf of children, campaigning alongside the NSPCC and other charities to highlight the shortfall in resources.
The five mandated health visiting points of contact
FIRST VISIT At 28 weeks’ pregnancy( health promoting visit) |
SECOND VISIT At 10-14 days after birth( new baby review) |
THIRD VISIT At 6-8 weeks old( 6-8 week assessment) |
FOURTH VISIT At 9-12 months old( one-year assessment) |
FIFTH VISIT 2-21 / 2 years old( two to two-and-a-half year review) |
DANIEL MITCHELL |