Family meets with health visitor
Over the last six months, several news stories have emerged both from local and national news outlets about the shortage of health visitors around the UK.
In December 2021 it emerged that findings from the Institute of Health Visiting (IHV) revealed around a quarter of all health visitors have three times the recommended number of children/families to look after. And only nine percent of health visitors are working within the recommended ratios.
The report “State of Health Visiting in England” was published by IHV and stated that there was a national shortage of 5,000 health visitors.
But why are health visitors so important and what is their role? Here we answer these questions and more.
Health visitors work in the community with families who have a child from newborn age up to five years old. They are registered midwives or nurses who have undertaken specialist training to become a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN).
Health visitors typically provide early support to families in their homes from around 10 to 14 days after the baby’s birth. They will complete holistic assessments and support parents as they transition into parenthood; this could include advice on breastfeeding, diet, baby care and identifying any potential additional support which may be required.
For older infants, health visitor care is carried out in clinics and at GP surgeries to provide assessments of child growth and development.
Health visitors may also act to identify vulnerable family members and children at risk of harm.
Health visitors play an important role in supporting families, especially first-time parents and vulnerable family members. They can identify needs of a baby (and the wider family) as well as determine risks. They are often the first point of contact for parents who need early advice and support.
Health visitors work with a variety of groups including homeless people, travellers, people with learning disabilities, abuse victims, and addicts.
As well as providing ongoing child health and development clinics, health visitors may also work alongside other healthcare professionals, such as GPs, school nurses, breastfeeding support groups, and other allied services, to provide specialised clinics and support work.
The key roles of a health visitor are to:
Health visitors perform regular assessments of your baby. These start in your home and as your child grows they will be carried out at a Doctor’s surgery, baby clinic, or children’s centre.
They will record your child’s weight and height in your ‘red book’ (personal child health record or PCHR) as well as the date of your child’s vaccinations.
They will discuss any concerns you may have such as bouts of illness or accidents that may have occurred or any medicines you are giving your baby.
Health visitor check-ups usually occur at the following times for weighing and measuring:
If there are concerns about your baby’s weight gain or development, your health visitor will discuss these with you and arrange further checks with your GP and/or specialists.
Health visitor checks are supplemented by full developmental reviews which are carried out by your GP. The first of these is at six to eight weeks.
For the next reviews, your health visitor will provide you with an ‘Ages and Stages Questionnaire’ to fill in prior to the review. These reviews are carried out at 9 to 12 months and 2 years.
Never be frightened to ask your health visitor a question. You might feel like it’s a silly question, but you can bet your bottom dollar that someone will have asked it before and that there’s a valid reason for it.
Health visitors will have a wealth of healthcare experience behind them and they are there to support you and your baby. So, if you are having problems breastfeeding or you feel you are not bonding with your newborn as you should, speak to your health visitor so that they can provide you with some help and options.