Child health checks failed to recover after covid, figures show

Inadequate health visiting provision has led to gaps in care for children and heaped pressure on acute services, senior clinicians have told HSJ. 

Government data suggests that a fifth of infants are not receiving one or more of their five mandatory health visiting reviews across the first two years of life, with rates still substantially below pre-covid levels.

Meanwhile, nationally about 1 in 10 children are still being seen virtually, contrary to the government’s delivery model and despite clinicians saying in-person contact is vital to spotting problems. Senior figures in children’s services told HSJ that in some areas a much higher rate was still being carried out with no in-person contact.

Clinicians said the reasons were ongoing funding and staffing constraints, and that the problems were leading to parents turning to emergency departments and GPs instead.

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Source: HSJ, 20 April 2023