Health: Visitor Service

Debate between Earl Howe and Baroness Ritchie of Brompton

Monday 14th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I draw the noble Earl’s attention to the document which my department published last month, Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-15: A Call to Action, which sets out how we are going to work with partners to deliver our ambition, including, very significantly, the Sure Start children’s centres which play an important role in our agenda. However, I will take the noble Earl’s idea back with me and be in touch with him about it.

[Baroness Ritchie of Brompton]

My Lords, what work is being done to improve the training of health visitors to enable them to identify the mental health needs of new mothers, which can impact very negatively on the emotional attachment between mother and child?

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend identifies an extremely important area of the health visitors’ remit—to put their finger on where there are problems and therefore to alert members of the multidisciplinary team to address those problems where necessary. The issues to which she refers are very much a part of health visitors’ training.