EXCLUSIVE: Babies in Angus will have no health visits for a year in staffing crisis

Babies in Angus will be left without health visits for up to a year because of a staffing crisis, prompting concerns the “scary” situation could soon spread across Scotland, The Courier can reveal.

Parents were contacted by health officials who said children will receive no scheduled reviews between their three-month check-up and when they are between 13 to 15 months old.

It means they will miss out on four-month and eight-month visits, when health professionals check development and look out for welfare concerns in the home.

Parents will be left without regular support at a key stage in their baby’s development, including the introduction of solid foods.

The correspondence, seen by The Courier, states this is because of “significant staffing pressures within the service”.

Children’s charities warn there is a staffing crisis in health visiting, with check-ups on babies increasingly delayed across the UK.

They can be the difference between a mum accessing support and not.

– Campaigner Gill Skene

NHS Tayside said a recent hire in their Arbroath team means a full service will be able to resume but did not say when this will be.

Meanwhile, a health visitor working in Greater Glasgow and Clyde told us she is covering for another area on “amber” alert due to staffing, hinting at far reaching problems for new families who need support.

She said three and four-month health visits have been combined, with eight-month visits now being conducted over the phone.

Difference between support or crisis

Health visits are carried out by highly trained nurses or midwives and are designed to check on the health of the child and mental welfare of the mother.

Leading charities and mental health campaigners warn the visits can often be the difference between struggling parents getting the support they need or hitting crisis.

Gill Skene, chair of the charity Latnem (Let’s Talk About North East Mums), fears some of the most vulnerable families could now fall through the cracks.

“It’s more than just checking the babies height and weight,” she said.

“It’s checking on mum, checking on dad, checking on the relationship, what extra support is needed or maybe a referral to somewhere else.

“They can be the difference between a mum accessing support and not.

“You’ve got a number you can call, a face you know and somebody who you will have built a positive relationship with so that when you are struggling, they’re someone you feel safe turning to for advice.

“It’s a wonderful thing to have and it would be really sad to see that go because we don’t have the staff.

“But it’s a bigger problem than just Angus. There are lots of vacancies and a lot of services are really stretched across the country.”

Visits ‘essential’ for mum and baby

NSPCC Scotland’s policy and public affairs manager, Joanne Smith, described health visiting as “essential” for supporting mothers’ mental health and to combatting the risk of child abuse and neglect.

“Routine and regular home visiting checks are critical to identify child protection concerns,” she said.

“Despite a challenging economic context, health visiting remains the cornerstone of universal child development services and must be fully resourced to deliver the enhanced Health Visitor Pathway – the minimum core home visiting programme set out by the Scottish Government.

“Becoming new parents is an incredibly stressful time for families, and the onus should not sit with new parents to arrange home visit appointments.

“Getting it right in the early years lays the foundations of all future wellbeing and health and should be a priority across Scotland.”

Deeply worrying for parents

North East MSP Michael Marra said the situation in Angus will worry parents deeply.

He said: “These health visits are critical for ensuring mental health care for mothers who may be suffering from post-natal depression.

“Women could go a whole year without symptoms being identified.”

Mr Marra, based in Dudnee, said there can be no erosion of support.

“NHS Tayside has an unacceptable record on women’s health provision,” he claimed.

“We cannot allow that to worsen and to creep into the care they provide for children.”

NHS Tayside ‘sorry’

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “Unfortunately one of our health visiting teams in Arbroath has been experiencing a staffing challenge and this has resulted in a temporary change to the usual visiting schedule for some families from December 2023.

“We have contacted those 18 families affected by this service change, which we hope is for as short a time as possible, to explain and say sorry for this situation.

“We are keen that families know that despite this short-term issue with routine visiting they can still contact their health visitor at any time if they need advice or support.

“A health visiting vacancy in the team in Arbroath has now been filled and a member of staff is due to start soon.

“We will then be able to resume the full programme of routine visits.”