Figures released this week show that more than 40% of the 103 trusts that responded to a survey, had to shut the doors of their maternity units or divert women to other sites at least once during 2007, with one trust reporting 28 closures. The results of the survey, carried out by the Tories, suggested that larger maternity units were more at risk of having to close. Of those trusts that had to turn women away, 74% had more than 3,000 births last year. Responding to the figures, the Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley criticised the tendency towards concentrating maternity services in larger units at the expense of smaller ones.
March 20, 2008
Health Minister, Ann Keen, is calling upon Health Commissioners to make the updated Child Health Promotion Programme a priority in their local area, asserting that the initiative could be a useful tool in meeting local obligations on breast feeding, obesity prevention and infant mortality. The aim of the scheme, included in the Children’s Plan announced last December, is to provide tailored services to the individual needs of children and families, as well as acting as a best practice guide for health and social services. The programme also places greater emphasis on promoting the health and wellbeing of children early, and encourages partnership working between different agencies on local service development.
March 20, 2008
Making the keynote speech to the Conservative Spring Forum, David Cameron promised to double the current number of health visitors, to provide a universal support service for new mothers at home. He said the new positions would be funded using money currently earmarked by the Government for untrained Sure Start outreach workers claiming that resources should be invested in trained experts as the decline in the number of trained health workers was creating serious problems in children’s health. The announcement was one of a raft of family-friendly policies, emphasising the conservative commitment to supporting families. Cameron named families “the most important institution in the country” and pledged to give parents the right to twelve months leave after the birth of a child, to share between them as they choose, and to reward marriage in the tax system.
March 20, 2008
The Scottish Executive has announced its new Early Years policy aimed at identifying vulnerable mums-to-be and supporting them through pregnancy and their child’s early years in order to tackle cycles of inequality, deprivation and ill health.
The new approach will focus on helping young and vulnerable pregnant women plan for motherhood, identifying risks early, putting intensive support in place and promoting health messages. The policy aims to encourage more integrated childcare services, to make it easier for parents, and provide continuity of care for children as well as encouraging communities to foster positive opportunities for all children. Efforts will also be made to strengthen parenting capacity through the health, education and social services.
March 20, 2008
