Health Visitors Fear 'Another Victoria Climbie' In Their NHS Trust, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 18 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PST

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A quarter of health visitors in England fear that 'another Victoria Climbie' could happen in their NHS trust, new research from Unite, the country's largest trade union, revealed today (Thursday, 18 September).

The survey by Unite/Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association of 829 health visitors in England revealed 25% thought the chances of a repetition of the fate of the eight-year old girl tortured to death by her great-aunt and her boyfriend happening in their NHS trust was 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely'.

Unite has been strongly campaigning against the swingeing cuts in the health visitor workforce in recent years, which according to the NHS's own workplace statistics, has seen 'a health visitor job being lost every 27 hours'.

Unite's National Officer for Health, Karen Reay said: 'These findings are a terrible indictment, which demonstrate that the health visiting profession is on the ropes. Families and communities will suffer as a result, which is completely the reverse of what the government's 'family-friendly' policies are intended to promote.'

'We are calling for ministers to instruct NHS trusts to implement a massive investment programme in health visiting so that government policies can come to fruition, and to restore the cuts in training budgets to guarantee the next generation of health visitors.'

Other findings include:

- More than 40% of health visitors are responsible for more than 500 children and nearly 20% for more than 1,000.

- Almost 70% of health visitors can't currently meet the needs of the most vulnerable children.

The Unite/CPHVA report comes out on the same day as one from Netmums, the UK's largest parenting website, which showed that 60% of the 6,000 mothers in its survey said they didn't see their health visitor enough during the first year of their child's life.

Unite/CPHVA's Lead Professional Officer for Strategy and Practice Development, Cheryll Adams said: 'It is no coincidence that two separate organisations have come to the same conclusion - that health visitors are crucially important to the future well-being of the UK's children. We call on the government to act now on these two reports.'

- Victoria Climbie died in 2000, aged eight, after being tortured by her great aunt and her boyfriend. This resulted in the Lord Laming inquiry

Unite/CPHVA press releases can be seen on the CPHVA website: http://www.unitetheunion.com/cphva

Unite is the largest union in the UK. It has seven professional sections: the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, the Mental Health Nurses Association, the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, the Society of Sexual Health Advisers, the Medical Practitioners' Union, College of Healthcare Chaplains, and the Hospital Physicists Association.

Unite was formed by an amalgamation of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union in May 2007.

Unite The Union