Family nurse scheme in £30m boost
Children & Young People Now www.cypnow.co.uk/
The government is to spend £30m over the next three years expanding the family nurse partnership scheme.
Junior health minister Ann Keen said the money would give more primary care trusts (PCTs) the chance to adopt the programme. The cash will be available from April next year. Keen said that the 10 pilots already running have shown that the scheme has plenty to offer families at risk.
"This extra investment will give more PCTs the opportunity to use this programme. It will build the evidence base in this country and share learning across universal services," she said.
The family nurse partnership pilots, run by the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, are testing intensive nurse-led home-visiting for vulnerable first-time parents.
Family nurses visit disadvantaged parents from early pregnancy until a child is two years old. It allows nurses to build supportive relationships and helps inexperienced teenagers to adopt healthier lifestyles, improve parenting skills and become self-sufficient.
Keen also announced the government's response to Facing the Future, an independent review of the future role of health visitors. She said that the review was in line with the government's focus on early intervention and prevention for young people.
But she said the government and health professionals now need to work together. "I want to say we have listened to concerns about the workforce," she said. "The government can't deliver these changes alone. I believe there will be more opportunities for health visitors, school nurses and other professionals. We want to do more to increase the number of health visitors working in disadvantaged areas."
Keen said health secretary Alan Johnson shared her concerns about health visitors and that he was working with her to provide the best outcomes for children and families.
But she added that the quality of the workforce is a major factor: "I urge all PCTs to have the right workforce in place to deliver a progressive universal health service that provides not only a care service to all families, but to provide early intervention and prevention for families that face poor outcomes."
Sarah Cooper, 07 November 2007