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You are here: Events and Campaigns Campaigns Health visitors

- an endangered species

The Family and Parenting Institute believes that health visitors are the key to effective early intervention.
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Health visitor campaign news

• David Cameron announces a Conservative Government would bring in 4,200 more health visitors www.conservatives.com
• Expert organisations invited to sign up to letter to Gordon Brown
• Annette Brooke has put up an early day motion backing our campaign for health visitors

• A Parents' Panel member has placed a petition in support of our campaign on the Number 10 website.

• Get involved in our campaign by writing to your local MP or Primary Care Trust. Click here to find out more.

The Campaign

Parents love health visitors. In March this year YouGov carried out a poll for us which shows that 76 per cent of parents in England want parenting support and advice on their child's health and development from a trained health visitor with up-to-date knowledge.

83 per cent of parents want that support and advice in the home. But we have also surveyed Primary Care Trusts and found that how often or even whether parents get visitors from a health visitor is a post code lottery while health visitor numbers overall are in freefall.

The Family and Parenting Institute believes that health visitors are the key to effective early intervention.

In our report we argue for a well-funded, well-trained universal health visitor service available to all parents of children under five, with specialist
support for the most vulnerable families.

We want:

• A universal health visitor service with an intensive service for parents who will benefit most

• A preventative health visitor service – the key to unlocking support for vulnerable families who are still missing out

• A well-trained health visitor service with a clearly defined role and a better career structure

Read our press release

Download our full report here.
Health visitors - an endangered species

Download the YouGov survey and results here.
YouGov report
YouGov results

The Family and Parenting Institute is launching a campaign to raise the voice of parents in the debate about the future of health visiting, to protect the future of our unique health visiting service by securing a well funded, well trained universal health visitor network accessible to all parents of children under five with additional help for those who need it most. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates.