Scotland’s families deserve health visitors, says RCN Scotland

Published: 18 April 2013

Commenting on the publication today of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, RCN Scotland Director Theresa Fyffe said:

“Scotland’s families deserve health visitors.  They make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of children, families and local communities across the country.  That’s why we’re joining together with other partner organisations in the children’s sector to campaign for stronger legislation that establishes Scotland’s commitment to a universal health visiting service.  

“The publication of the Children and Young People Bill is welcome and many of the measures contained in the Bill recognise the needs of children and families.  However, in its current form, it is a missed opportunity to recognise the role that health visitors play in the delivery of preventative healthcare to families across Scotland.  The Bill does not go far enough to address our concerns, one of which is the sustainability of the health visiting workforce.   A first step in addressing this is to enshrine Scotland’s commitment to health visiting in law.

“The benefits of a universal health visiting service are clear and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government and parliamentarians to ensure that the final Bill contains a statutory commitment to its provision.  The Scottish Government must grasp this opportunity and show their commitment to health visiting for all families in Scotland.”

ENDS

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Notes to editors

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the world’s largest professional organisation and trade union for nursing staff, with members in the NHS, independent and voluntary sectors. RCN Scotland promotes patient and nursing interests by campaigning on issues that affect our members, shaping national health policies, representing members on practice and employment issues and providing members with learning and development opportunities.  With around 39,000 members in Scotland, we are the voice of nursing.

• The Scottish Government today published the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.  For more information see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/04/children18042013
• The RCN is joining together with organisations including Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Parenting Across Scotland, Children in Scotland, and the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland, to campaign for tougher legislation that will enshrine Scotland’s commitment to health visiting in law.  The campaign is expected to launch later this month, and our key asks are that the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill is strengthened to include:
• An explicit commitment, in associated regulation, that the Named Person (following on from maternity services) for under 5s is a health visitor, in line with the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) framework
• A new statutory entitlement to universal services from health visiting teams for all under-fives
• Further information can be found in a joint briefing http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/499843/Joint_briefing_on_health_visitors.pdf#HV%20briefing