The Government has promised to fund more than 4,000 extra health visitors in England, who would be concentrated in children's centres. However, the Royal College of General Practitioners told the BBC that its members are seeing a worrying pattern developing, where vital information is not being passed back to them.
Professor Steve Fields of the RCGP said, 'Mums-to-be are not getting the service they could have had five or ten years ago. It is an unintended consequence of children's centres being established and health visitors moving out of GPs' surgeries and GPs not being as actively involved in their care during their pregnancy.'
But children's charities said that having health visitors in children's centres means there is less need for mothers to use GPs' surgeries for non-urgent problems and advice.
A survey of 1,687 mothers by 4Children, Netmums and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association found that more than half had experienced a health issue in the past year, but 40 per cent felt there were no professionals they could turn to for help with problems, including postnatal depression, difficulty bonding with a child and domestic violence.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, 'All parents tell us that they want support as early as possible that is easy to access and near to home. Getting help early can make the difference in resolving a problem with a child's sleeping or eating, for example, which if left unresolved can lead to a crisis in confidence and even longer-term depression.
'In the run up to the spending review, 4Children is urging Government to think creatively and to maximise the potential of children's centres to create more hubs in the community to support families' health.'
