Vulnerable families at risk as health visitor workloads increase

Health visitors are concerned that the needs of children have been missed due to staff redeployment to support the Covid-19 workforce and increased caseloads, according to a new UCL survey. A survey of 663 health visitors in England, conducted between 19 June and 21 July 2020, found that 41% of respondents in teams that lost staff had between 6 and 50 team members redeployed between 19 March to 3 June 2020. In approximately 10% of teams, which experienced a loss, this was a redeployment of at least half of their staff. Few teams (9% among those with staff redeployed) gained additional staff to fill the gaps. This meant that 253 respondents (38%) had their caseload increase, some with an increase of 50% or more, and 73% of those that experienced a change reported that their caseload had not returned to its usual size. Dr Gabriella Conti, Associate Professor (UCL Economics and Institute of Fiscal Studies) who led the survey, said: "Whilst all families are impacted by Covid-19, the most detrimental effects are felt by those who are already disadvantaged - in particular, our most vulnerable infants and children whose needs are often hidden from sight. "Increased caseloads for a significant proportion of health visitors, along with reports of a lack of PPE for home visits, has created a lot of additional stress and anxiety, during a time of great uncertainty and difficulty." The survey, supported by the Institute of Health Visiting, was carried out using the online survey platform Qualtrics.