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The Pre-school Learning Alliance adds its voice to the Family and Parenting Institute’s campaign for a universal health visitor service and calls for children’s centre agenda to be central to PCT plans

NEWS RELEASE

20 April 2007

The Pre-school Learning Alliance adds its voice to the Family and Parenting Institute’s campaign for a universal health visitor service and calls for children’s centre agenda to be central to PCT plans

Steve Alexander, Chief Executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance the leading voluntary provider of childcare said,

“We wholeheartedly support the Family and Parenting Institute’s campaign to secure a well-funded, well trained universal Health Visitor service accessible for all parents of children under five.

Our experience on the ground reveals that children’s services also face a post code lottery when it comes to accessing Health Visitors. The expectation is that Health Visitors will be integral to the ‘one stop shop’ approach and that they will link to the other services making it easier for parents to access them. However, the post code lottery of services which currently exists has led us to conclude that while the Children’s Centre agenda is central to Government policy, it is questionable whether it is part of Primary Care Trust (PCT) plans, or given the weight it should be.

This current lack of ‘joined up thinking’ and planning means that families are in danger of not getting the vital and much- valued support they need at an early stage, support which is particularly crucial for the most vulnerable families. Furthermore, with such countrywide variation there is a real question about equality of opportunity for all families to access the support they need, particularly in rural areas.

Good practice which Alliance practitioners have identified includes Health Visitors linking to children’s services, such as parent and toddler groups and pre-schools and some PCTs, such as in Norfolk, have reorganised from practice to geographically-based areas. Services vary widely across the country, with some Health Visitors carrying heavy caseloads in excess of 1,000 children and families and working under extreme pressure. We are therefore concerned that not all new mothers and their babies receive a visit in the home from a health visitor, while others are able to provide a number of visits and provide additional services, such as advice and weaning sessions, in Parent and Toddler groups.

The Alliance is further concerned to find that in some parts of the country, PCTs do not appear able to attend meetings for Children’s Centres or Children’s Boards.”

In order to ensure we have a universal Health Visitor service aligned to the 10 year childcare strategy the Pre-school Learning Alliance is calling for:

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Kate Summerside
Pre-school Learning Alliance
T: 020 7697 2502
Out of hours press calls: 07956 499621
E: Kate Summerside

Notes for Editors:

  1. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  2. Through direct provision and its membership of 15,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
  3. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website: www.pre-school.org.uk
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