Organising health visiting services in the UK: Frontline perspectives

Whittaker, Karen; Appleton, Jane V.; Peckover, Sue; Adams, Cheryll M.

doi:10.12968/johv.2021.9.2.68

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Maternal mental and physical health problems would normally lead to primary care intervention in the NHS in England. However, recent reports have suggested that the universal health service has been compromised and general and nurse practitioner services have become less accessible for some families (Whittaker et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Mother and Infant Emergency Department Attendance and Admission: A Prospective Observational Study

Mason‐Jones

Beltrán

Keding

et al. 2023

Matern Child Health J

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To explore the predictors of emergency department attendance and admission for mothers and their infants. Methods Self-reported emergency department (ED) attendance and admission, sociodemographic, mental health, and other measures were recorded at baseline and at 12 months at 4 sites in England between May 2017 and March 2020. Results Infants’ gestational age (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.88, p = 0.001), mothers’ mental health (OR 2.40, 95% CI 1.30 to 4.41, p = 0.005) and mothers’ attendance at ED (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.13 to 4.84, p = 0.022) predicted infant ED attendance. Frequency of attendance was predicted by ED site (IRR 0.46, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.73, p = 0.001) and mothers’ age (IRR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.00, p = 0.028). Infant hospital admissions were predominantly for respiratory (40%) and other infectious diseases (21%) and were predicted by previous health problems (OR 3.25, 95% CI 1.76 to 6.01, p < 0.001). Mothers’ ED attendance was predicted by mixed or multiple ethnic origin (OR 9.62, 95% CI 2.19 to 42.27, p = 0.003), having a male infant (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.03 to 4.20, p = 0.042), and previous hospitalisation (OR 4.15, 95% CI 1.81 to 9.56, p = 0.001). Hospital admission was largely for reproductive health issues (61%) with frequency predicted by having attended the ED at least once (IRR 3.39, 95% CI 1.66 to 6.93, p = 0.001), and being anxious or depressed (IRR 3.10, 95% CI 1.14 to 8.45, p = 0.027). Conclusions for Practice Improving the reproductive and mental health of mothers may help to avoid poor maternal and infant health outcomes and reduce emergency service utilisation and hospitalisation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Mother and Infant Emergency Department Attendance and Admission: A Prospective Observational Study

Mason‐Jones

Beltrán

Keding

et al. 2023

Matern Child Health J

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[4,[6][7][8] Case studies and surveys have shown that local authorities have responded differently to these challenges, leading to additional variation in models of service delivery, priorities, and capacity. [2,7,9] To-date, there have been two analyses of routinely collected data on health visiting using the national individual-level administrative data on health visiting in England (the Community Services Dataset; CSDS). One study focused on variation in coverage and average number of health visiting contacts for children aged 2 years in 2018-9, by child-level characteristics (ethnicity, deprivation, child safeguarding flags).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in health visiting for the under 5s: A cross-sectional analysis of administrative data in England for 2018-2020

Liu,

Woodman,

Grath-Lone

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe health visiting service in England leads the delivery of the government’s Healthy Child Programme (HCP) for children under five. However, local authorities and their provider partners deliver this service differently in respond to the challenges of funding cuts, low numbers of health visitors and high levels of family needs.ObjectiveWe aimed to describe local authority variation in the delivery of health visiting services to children under 5 in England between 2018 and 2020.MethodsWe used nationally published statistics on mandated health visiting contacts, and administrative data from the Community Services Dataset (CSDS) on duration, location, and medium of delivery of contacts. We mapped the population coverage of mandated contacts (new birth visit, 6-8-week review, one-year review and 2-2 ½year review), and additional contacts, and described the frequency and characteristics of contacts across local authorities.ResultsAccording to the published statistics, 99% of eligible children received their new birth visit, 89% received the 6-8-week review and the one-year review, and 82% received the 2-2½-year review. There was substantial variation across local authorities: coverage for the 2-2½-year review ranged between 33%-97%. Based on CSDS, 80% of local authorities (n=46/57) delivered more additional contacts than mandated contacts: on average, 1.6 additional contacts (range: 0.1-8.5) were delivered for each mandated contact. There was also significant variation in the duration of contacts and the percentage of contacts delivered face-to-face and at home.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates substantial variation in the delivery of health visiting services across England, particularly in the delivery of additional contacts. Further research is needed to explore the extent to which this trend has continued and the reasons for this variation. There is also a need to exploit this data to further explore the impact of these different models of service delivery on family outcomes.

show abstract

“…Local authorities and their provider partners have faced funding cuts, low numbers of health visiting staff and high levels of family need, putting pressure on the service [4,[6][7][8]. Case studies and surveys have shown that local authorities have responded differently to these challenges, leading to variations in models of service delivery, priorities, and capacity [2,7,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local area variation in health visiting contacts across England for children under age 5: a cross-sectional analysis of administrative data in England 2018-2020

Liu,

Woodman,

Mc Grath-Lone

et al. 2024

IJPDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe health visiting service in England leads the government's Healthy Child Programme (HCP) for children under five years. Local authorities and their provider partners deliver this service differently across England. ObjectiveTo describe local authority variation in the delivery of health visiting to children under five years in England (2018-2020). MethodsWe used publicly available statistics on mandated health visiting contacts, and administrative data from the Community Services Dataset (CSDS) on duration, location, and medium of contacts. We mapped population coverage of mandated contacts (new birth visit, 6-8-week review, one-year review, and 2-2½ -year review) and described the frequency and characteristics of mandated and additional contacts across local authorities. ResultsBased on publicly available data, almost all eligible children received their new birth visit, 6-8-week review and one-year review (89%-99%), with substantial variation across local authorities in children receiving he 2-2½ -year review: median 81%, range 33%-98%. Based on CSDS, 80% of local authorities (n=46/57) delivered more additional than mandated contacts: a median of 1.6 additional contacts (range: 0.1-8.5) were delivered for each mandated contact. There was also significant variation in the duration of contacts and the percentage of contacts delivered face-to-face and at home. ConclusionsDespite decreases in funding and workforce since 2015, in 2018--2020, health visiting teams reached nearly all babies and most children face-to-face via mandated contacts, and conducted over one and a half times the number of additional contacts relative to mandated contacts, with variation between local areas. This represents a significant public health infrastructure to support the health and development of babies and children and the wellbeing of their families in the critical period before school. Our study highlights the importance of taking into account additional contacts. Further work is needed to understand variation, including in the way additional contacts are used.

show abstract

Organising health visiting services in the UK: Frontline perspectives

Cited by 9 publications

References 5 publications

Predictors of Mother and Infant Emergency Department Attendance and Admission: A Prospective Observational Study

Predictors of Mother and Infant Emergency Department Attendance and Admission: A Prospective Observational Study

Variation in health visiting for the under 5s: A cross-sectional analysis of administrative data in England for 2018-2020

Local area variation in health visiting contacts across England for children under age 5: a cross-sectional analysis of administrative data in England 2018-2020

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About