WIREDGOV

Health visiting services in Birmingham are ‘in meltdown’, following a damning review by the independent regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Unite, union, warned last week.

Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust, where Unite has 600 members, has been told by the CQC to make ‘significant improvements’ in the quality of its healthcare by March next year.

Unite, which embraces the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA), said that since the warning notice was delivered to the trust’s chief executive Richard Kirby last month ‘a veil of secrecy’ had descended  about what steps the management is taking to rectify the situation.

The CQC notice, which has been emailed to all the trust’s staff, highlights that the average health visitor caseloads per whole time equivalent post was about 500 families – double the 250 figure recommended by the CPHVA for safe and effective practice.

Unite called for urgent talks with the trust management and the commissioners who award the contract for health visiting on behalf of cash-strapped Birmingham city council.

Unite regional officer Su Lowe said: “The health visiting service in Birmingham is in meltdown, with health visitors leaving and not being replaced. This deteriorating situation impacts negatively on the services they can provide to families and young children.

“We are into unsafe practice territory where serious issues, such as postnatal depression and domestic abuse, could be missed because of the current lack of resources.

“Staff morale is at breaking point; the trust has failed to follow the clear guidelines on caseloads; and there appears to be a complete lack of governance. Our members feel that when they raise concerns they are ignored and the issue brushed under the carpet. 

“Since the CQC review was delivered, a veil of secrecy has enveloped the trust’s management as to what steps they are taking to rectify this situation – we need urgent talks with the trust and commissioners to chart a coherent way forward.”

Unite said that since the health improvement plan ended in 2015, there had been a 20 per cent drop in health visitor numbers across England - and this needed to be addressed urgently by the health and social care secretary Matt Hancock.

The situation had been made worse by the Tory government’s swingeing cuts to local authority funding in England since 2010 – and it is councils which now control the purse strings for public health.   

Notes to editors:

For more information please contact Unite senior communications officer Shaun Noble on 020 3371 2060 or 07768 693940. Unite press office is on:  020 3371 2065

Email: shaun.noble@unitetheunion.org