One state snooper for 350 children
NHS staff crisis deals blow to Named Person plan
SCOTLAND’S new ‘state snoopers’ will be expected to personally oversee the welfare of up to 350 children because of crippling staff shortages within the NHS.
Under the Named Person scheme, set to become law next year, all of Scotland’s 900,000 children and young people, from birth to the age of 18, will get a nominated state guardian.
For young children, the Named Person will be an NHS health visitor. For every child, from birth to the age of five, they will carry out 11 home visits, checking almost every aspect of the family’s life.
However, The Scottish Mail on Sunday has learned that some health boards are suffering from an acute shortage of properly trained staff, raising fears they will struggle to meet the Government’s demands.
NHS Lothian, one of the country’s biggest health boards, has admitted it has so few health visitors that they will each have to act as Named Person for up to 350 children.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has warned that the scheme could lead to an abuse ‘tragedy’ if staff are so busy monitoring every child they fail to spot those in danger.
Simon Calvert, of the No To Named Person campaign, said: ‘NHS Lothian doesn’t have the resources to meet the huge demands of the law which requires a Named Person to monitor every single child. That’s a big job. Too big. The scheme is doomed to fail – and doomed to ruin some families’ lives in the process.’
During their house calls, health visitors will monitor every child’s well-being, while checking the family’s parenting skills, finances and mental health. Those judged to be falling short can be referred to professionals such as doctors and social workers. A report by Sally Egan, NHS Lothian associate director of strategic planning, states: ‘There is a national shortage of qualified health visitors and an extensive training programme is under way across all NHS boards.
‘Despite best efforts, NHS Lothian will not have trained sufficient health visitors by 2016 and will not be at full health visitor capacity until 2018/19 at the earliest.’
NHS Grampian admitted it faced an ‘initial shortfall’ of health visitors, while NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said its training and recruitment of extra staff was ‘ongoing’.
In a statement last night, NHS Lothian said it had started an ‘intensive’ training and recruitment programme, and added: ‘Every child in Lothian will have a Named Person, who has the knowledge and skills to carry the responsibility for that child through their early years.’
Scotland currently has around 1,900 health visitors. A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government is investing £41.6 million over the four years to 2018 to increase the health visitor workforce by 500. This will ensure NHS Scotland has the right levels of staff.’