Public health minister to be quizzed on coalition pledge of 4,200
more health visitors
11 October 2010
Public health minister, Anne Milton, will be quizzed on the
coalition’s pledge of 4,200 more health visitors at the annual
conference of Unite/Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’
Association (CPHVA) in Harrogate next week.
Ms Milton, parliamentary under-secretary of state for public
health will address the delegates on Thursday 21 October – and then
take questions from the floor.
Unite/CPHVA has been campaigning for years for more health
visitors to be trained, recruited and retained in the wake of the
Victoria Climbie and Baby Peter tragedies – but NHS trusts have
seen health visitors as ‘soft targets’ when it comes to
cutbacks.
Unite/CPHVA recommends that each health visitor has a maximum
caseload of 250 children each – but many are buckling under
caseloads of more than 600.
The latest NHS workforce statistics, based on September 2009
figures, revealed there were 8,519 full-time equivalent (FTE)
health visitor posts (excluding ‘bank’/agency staff) compared with
8,764 FTE jobs in 2008 – a drop of 245 posts. In 1999, there were
10,161 FTE health visitors.
Unite’s national officer for health, Karen Reay, said: ”We
expect to hear from Anne Milton how government is going to
translate David Cameron's pre-election promise of 4,200 extra
health visitors into actual health visitors working on the
frontline, particularly as it is an ageing workforce.
”We have had a useful dialogue with the Department of Health
(DH) on the health visitor crisis, and there has been an element of
planning by the DH on this issue – but now is the time to put flesh
on the bones.”
Unite/CPHVA said it also wished to raise with the minister the
2004 promise that each one of England’s 3,300 secondary schools and
their cluster of primary schools should have a specialist school
nurse.
ENDS
Notes to news editors:
Anne Milton will be speaking at 1.30pm on Thursday 21 October at
the Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate.
Journalists wishing to attend this event should contact Shaun
Noble, communications officer (health sector) on 020 7420 8951 or
07768 693 940
A copy of the programme
for the conference which runs from Wednesday, 20 October –
Friday, 22 October.
For further information, please ring: Obi Amadi, lead
professional officer on 07780 955 936 or Karen Reay, national
officer, health on 07798 531 004
Email to a friend
