More health visitors for Barking and Dagenham
18 December 2008
The decision to appoint 24 more full-time specialist community
nurses in Barking and Dagenham has been hailed as ‘a massive leap
forward in public health for the East London borough’, Unite the
Union has said.
Unite, the largest union in the country, said the decision by
the Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust (PCT) goes a long way
to reverse the health visitor vacancy rate running at 45% in one of
the capital’s most deprived boroughs.
Unite, which embraces the Community Practitioners’ and Health
Visitors’ Association (CPHVA), has been strongly campaigning for
the creation for new jobs against the backdrop of a health visiting
workforce coping with individual caseloads of up to nearly 4,000
children.
Unite also welcomed the commitment of the PCT to train nine new
specialist community public health nurses (SCPHNs) for the academic
year, starting in September 2009 – the training, or lack of it, for
new SCPHNs is a UK-wide problem.
Unite/CPHVA Professional Officer, Dave Munday said: ‘We are not
sure of the breakdown of the new jobs between the number of health
visitors and school nurses, but this investment in the public
health agenda by the trust, following last week’s crisis talks with
Unite, is warmly welcomed.’
Dave Munday said: ‘We wish to work with the trust to ensure that
this massive leap forward benefits the families and children in
Barking and Dagenham.’
-ends-
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:
For further information, please ring: Dave Munday 07918
630700;
Karen Reay, National Officer, Health, Unite 07798 531 004; Obi
Amadi, Lead Professional Officer, Policy & External Affairs
07780 955 936; Cheryll Adams, Lead Professional Officer, Strategy
& Practice Development 07712 678 281; Shaun
Noble Communications Officer 0207 420 8951 (direct line)
or 07768 693 940 (mobile)
Unite is campaigning against the imposed three-year NHS pay deal
which will mean pay rises being barely 50% of the current
rate of inflation. More information is available on the 'campaigns'
page of the website www.amicustheunion.org
Unite/CPHVA press releases can be seen on the CPHVA website:
www.unitetheunion.org/cphva
Unite is the largest union in the UK. It has seven
professional sections: the Community Practitioners’ and
Health Visitors’ Association, the Mental Health Nurses Association,
the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, the Society of Sexual Health
Advisers, the Medical Practitioners’ Union, College of Healthcare
Chaplains, and the Hospital Physicists Association.
