{"id":5097,"date":"2015-08-04T17:38:27","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T16:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5097"},"modified":"2015-08-04T17:38:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T16:38:27","slug":"stressed-and-overworked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5097","title":{"rendered":"Stressed and overworked"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Health visitors, who are critical in supporting young families, received a big boost following a largely successful implementation plan that saw their numbers swell by almost 4,000 over the past five years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c falling just short of the original government target set in 2011.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut this unprecedented success in an era of austerity obscures what health visitors have been up against as they strive to support a growing number of families with young children, many of whom come from the most disadvantaged groups.<\/p>\n

 
\nA new survey developed by the Unite Health Visiting Occupational Committee found that the picture for health visitors isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite as rosy as many would believe \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and chancellor George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest raft of public health budget cuts, to the tune of \u00c2\u0141200m, threatens to undo all the gains made to date.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite professional officer Dave Munday explained the results of the survey, which revealed a workforce suffering chronic stress and whose perception of the profession is that staffing numbers haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been adequate.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this very mistaken idea that because the health visiting implementation plan was mostly successful, we no longer need to support the profession,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut our survey reveals what we know to be true \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that because of an increase in population and a decrease in associated services, such as children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health, the demand on health visitors has never been greater.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nIndeed, more than half of the 751 health visitors surveyed felt that the number of health visitors hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone up, with 28 per cent reporting numbers haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t increased and 26 per cent saying they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stayed the same.<\/p>\n

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Renewed challenge<\/strong><\/em>
\nMunday added that despite the much-hailed implementation plan, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often missing from the discussion is that the plan merely reversed a massive shortage of health visitors that had been building at an alarming rate. In the ten years preceding the implementation plan, the profession has lost 30 per cent of its capacity.<\/p>\n

 
\nNow, as the birth rate has surged in the past five years, maintaining an adequate number of health visitors has become a renewed challenge.<\/p>\n

 
\nMunday highlighted the demanding working conditions health visitors face as they face ever larger workloads.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany of our HV members have reported stress \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the survey results show that the vast majority attribute the stress to the demand of the job, with many also reporting lack of work\/life balance, lack of control at work and a tense work environment as causes of stress,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Munday noted.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s problematic for many in the health profession to raise the issue of stress to management,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Oh, well, everyone is stressed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and that we should all just get on with the job.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been conclusively proven that those who are happy in their jobs do the best work. Health visitors have critical jobs in helping families to raise citizens of the future, and many of these families come from deprived backgrounds. Dismissing the levels of stress among the workforce is hugely counterproductive.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNurses and other health professionals are always called on to be compassionate, but what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often missing is compassion from employers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Munday added.<\/p>\n

 
\nMost worryingly of all, nearly half of the health visitors surveyed said that the chances of a child death, such as that of Baby P, happening in their trust or board was \u00e2\u20ac\u0098somewhat likely\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (37 per cent) and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098very likely\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (10 per cent).<\/p>\n

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Short-sighted cuts<\/strong><\/em>
\nMunday criticised the looming \u00c2\u0141200m in public health budget cuts, which he argued would have a huge impact on young families up and down the country.<\/p>\n

 
\nFrom October of this year, local authorities will commission health visiting services from their public health budgets. With local authorities already facing an unprecedented squeeze on their finances, Munday explained, many unprotected public health services, including health visiting, will face the axe.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe consultation on the cuts was launched last week,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worrying is that the consultation wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t on if they should happen, but how. It is a fait accompli.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government needs to reverse this decision as it will impact negatively both on health visitor services as they are not \u00e2\u20ac\u0098protected\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from the cuts in themselves and the associated services that support families.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOsborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cuts are completed short-sighted,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Munday added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat people forget is that in the medium and long term, these public health cuts will only put added strain on already strapped health and social care services. What we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re saving on now through these rushed through cuts, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be paying dearly for in the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nWant to be part of the discussion? Take part in an interactive Twitter debate about the health visitor survey results tonight from 7pm to 8pm at #CPHVAtt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health visitors, who are critical in supporting young families, received a big boost following a largely successful implementation plan that saw their numbers swell by almost 4,000 over the past five years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c falling just short of the original government target set in 2011.   But this unprecedented success in an era of austerity obscures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[77],"wps_subtitle":"Survey reveals health visitors still need support ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5098,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097\/revisions\/5098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}