The Institute of Health Visiting has published a report on the UK health visiting landscape during 2024. Based on findings from a survey of 1,392 practitioners, the report looks at babies, young children and their families’ needs; the delivery of health visiting services and local disparities; the workforce, including staffing levels and caseloads; and strengthening health visiting. Findings include: across the UK, the top reason why families needed extra help from health visitors was due to perinatal mental health problems; and in England, practitioners reported that more of their time was being requested to support families struggling with the impacts of child poverty and families with children with safeguarding concerns below the threshold for children’s social care. Recommendations include the need for a realistic and accurate level of funding reflecting the true scale of need for health visiting services.
Read the report: State of health visiting, UK survey report: from disparity to opportunity: the case for rebuilding health visiting
Source: Institute of Health Visiting
Date published: 27 January 2025
