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Ministers were urged ‘to get a grip’ on health visitor recruitment, as one of the government’s key pledges – to recruit an extra 4,200 health visitors – falters. 

Unite, which embraces the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA), called for health visiting budgets to be ring-fenced, as seven out of the ten strategic health authorities (SHA) in England reported a decline in the number of health visitors in the last 12 months. 

Unite’s lead professional officer, Obi Amadi said: ‘In the morass of the government’s so-called NHS reforms, the pledge to recruit 4,200 extra health visitors by 2015 stood out.’ 

‘But now official figures from the NHS Information Centre have shown that the recruitment drive is faltering and the number of health visitors is actually falling in many parts of England, with London and the East of England being particularly hard hit.’ 

‘The government needs to consider ring-fencing health visitor budgets to meets its pledge. The government gave the SHAs an extra three per cent on top of baseline funding for health visitors, but it appears it hasn’t been used.’ 

‘They need to take a good look at ring-fencing budgets, otherwise the money is not going to be spent on what it should be.’ 

This latest blow to the profession comes a fortnight before public health minister; Anne Milton is due to address the annual Unite/CPHVA professional conference in Brighton . 

The Health Visitor Implementation Plan, published in February, promised to recruit an extra 4,200 health visitors to add to the 8,092 full time equivalents that were practicing in England, as of May 2010. 

But more than eight months since the government revealed its plan, the overall number of health visitors in the country had dropped by 213 to 7,879. 

The implementation plan set out a provisional target to have trained an extra 1,135 health visitors by the end of March 2012. This was broken down into regional targets for each strategic health authority (SHA) to achieve. 

Note the news editors: 

For further information, please contact Unite communications officer, Shaun Noble on 07768 693940.