Making the case for re-investment in health visiting

Attending the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) 25th anniversary celebratory event on 1 May 2024, I was struck by the number of times I heard reference to health visitors by GP colleagues.

For the most part, this was in recognition of their excellent skills in supporting parents, babies and children – and how much they miss seeing their health visitor colleagues, recognising that the number of health visitors has been shrinking significantly over the last 6 years.

Our GP colleagues see and feel the impact of the depleted health visiting service, with increased requests for appointments to discuss issues that would otherwise have been addressed by the health visitor. A colleague at the event told me about a health issue with a baby that would have been picked up so much earlier of there has been a health visitor seeing the baby at home.

» One of the outcomes of shadowing Queen's Nurses has been a commitment to investing in the training of more health visitors by a future Labour government «