The number of health visitors working in the NHS in England has fallen by almost 9% in the space of a year, leading to warnings by senior nurses that the workforce could soon return to previous dangerously low levels.
New analysis by Nursing Times of the latest official data has revealed NHS school nurse numbers have also dropped by 6% in the same amount of time.
The reduction in staffing levels has taken place in the 12 months since the commissioning of public health services fully transferred over to cash-strapped local authorities, in October 2015.
The data appears to confirm fears that ongoing cuts to council public health budgets by the government are leading to a significant reduction in nurses working in children’s services.
Full story in The Nursing Times, 17 February 2017