Responding to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s (RCPCH) State of Child Health report, RCN Head of Nursing Practice Carli Whittaker said:

“The report is a tragic reminder of how badly children and young people are being failed.

“Poor health early in life can have long-term consequences. Unless this is urgently tackled, we not only condemn generations to chronic poor health but add further unnecessary pressure on health and care services.

“The report is right to call for sustained investment in the parts of the nursing workforce closest to the child. That must include health visitors who deliver vital checks to families with babies and infants, and school nurses who are so central to ill health prevention and early intervention in education settings. The number of staff in these roles has plummeted and we need ministers to act decisively, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country where help is most urgently needed.”

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Notes to editors

RCN report - Prevention Starts Here: Health visitors, school nurses and children’s health in England