New Policy Position Published by Leading Health Organizations on Public Health 0-19 Services
London, UK – On Monday 4th November 2024, the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), and School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA) released a joint policy position on the safeguarding role of public health 0-19 services.
The statement was issued in response to the growing number of infants, children, and young people who require support for safeguarding issues but do not meet the threshold for children’s social care services. As a result, health visitors and school nurses have been increasingly called upon to provide support for Child Protection and Child in Need Plans. However, this has placed a strain on their ability to carry out their public health functions, as child health continues to decline and health inequalities widen across the nation.
The policy position document, published today, highlights the impact of this increased workload on the capacity of health visitors and school nurses. It also outlines several measures that would support the sector in ensuring that children and families have access to a wide range of services that promote good health and wellbeing. These measures include:
– Ensuring that discussions take place between health professionals and social care to determine the most appropriate Lead Practitioner for children with identified health needs.
– Ensuring that the “duty to cooperate” in child safeguarding does not interfere with the performance of public health functions.
– Providing funding to offset the additional workforce and training costs associated with upskilling the 0-19 public health nursing service to comply with the Care Law.
– Exploring the option of providing additional health capacity in multi-agency safeguarding hubs.
ADPH spokesperson for children and young people, Prof Tracy Daszkiewicz, emphasized the importance of maintaining a focus on prevention and public health approaches in order to deliver on the government’s Health and Opportunity Missions. She also called on the government to recognize the strain on these services and commit to a sustained increase in public health funding.
Alison Morton, Chief Executive of iHV, echoed this sentiment, stating that the current workforce challenges require a strong focus on prevention and improving the health of children and families. She stressed the need for Specialist Community Public Health Nurses to utilize their skills to maximum effect in working “upstream” to prevent, identify, and treat problems before they reach crisis point.
SAPHNA Chief Executive Sharon White OBE highlighted the central role of school nurses in safeguarding and the need for a clarification of their role in this area. She also emphasized the significant returns on investment of public health and the strain that the increased safeguarding workload has placed on school nurses’ wider public health role.
About ADPH:
The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) is the representative body for Directors of Public Health (DsPH) in the UK. It advocates for the professional views of all DsPH as local leaders for the nation’s health.
About iHV:
The Institute of Health Visiting is a UK Centre of Excellence that aims to raise standards in health visiting practice and improve public health outcomes for children, families, and communities.
About SAPHNA:
The School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA) is a leading voice in advocating for school and public health nursing in the UK, working to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and young people.
For more information, please contact:
ADPH: info@adph.org.uk, +44 (0) 207 265 7352
iHV: info@ihv.org.uk, +44 (0) 207 265 7352
SAPHNA: info@saphna.co, +44 (0) 207 265 7352
Distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/
