Government rejects call for health visitor recruitment target

The government has rejected recommendations to set a target for health visitor recruitment despite concerns about ‘unmanageable and unsafe’ workloads.

In January, the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee recommended that the government commit to recruit ‘at least’ 1000 health visitors in its report The First 1000 Days: a renewed focus.

It had warned the government that the number of health visitors had fallen by 43% since 2015, leaving a shortfall of 5,000 posts.

The target was one of 15 recommendations in the report that focused on the first 1,000 days of an infant’s life, which it described as a ‘critical window for shaping brain development and future mental and physical health’.

However, the government’s response to the report published yesterday rejected any commitment to a recruitment target.

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It said that while it intends to ‘improve the capacity of health-visiting services’, it ‘cannot commit to a specific number at this stage’.

The government said it would publish a ‘professional strategy for nursing and midwifery’ in spring 2026, which would ‘set out a professional direction of travel, up to 2040, for all England’s nurses, midwives and nursing associates’.

It also said ‘a safe staffing tool’ would be developed ‘over the next few years’ to improve the capacity of health visiting services.

Spokesperson for the Health and Social Care Committee, Paulette Hamilton MP, said the response failed to inspire confidence.

‘Flicking through the response, a sound that rings from the pages is that of a can being kicked down the road.

‘We are not given confidence that ministers are acting quickly enough to support health visitors, or that there is any intention to scale up the workforce to a level that will even touch the sides of what’s needed,’ she said.

The government’s rejection of a recruitment target comes after the chief executive of the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), Alison Morton, raised concerns that the workforce will continue to decline due to ‘unmanageable and unsafe’ workloads.

Earlier this week, Ms Morton said that health visitors are having to prioritise between patients and that ‘prioritisation has a human cost.’

As well as a recruitment target for health visitors, the committee’s report had called for a new approach to childhood vaccinations, describing their continuing decline in levels since 2012 as a ‘national disgrace’.

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It recommended the government ‘brand the current strategy a failure and develop a new plan’.

In response, the government said it recognised that childhood vaccination rates needed to improve and said it was ‘committed to making that happen’.

The government highlighted measures already in place to improve uptake, including community engagement, new digital systems, and the requirement for ICBs to have a named executive director responsible for vaccination.

But Ms Hamilton said the committee remained ‘unconvinced that the government’s rhetoric about vaccinations being a priority is matched by its actions’.

She said: ‘A new strategy is needed as the current approach is simply failing to deliver improved vaccination rates and is costing young children their lives.’

However, the committee did welcome the government’s acceptance of its recommendation to ensure there is access in every community to family hubs – one-stop shops for families.

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The government said that, starting in April 2026, over 200 new family hubs will open in previously unfunded local authorities, as part of its Best Start in Life strategy.  This means there will be family hubs in every local authority area in England.

By the end of 2028, the government aims to create up to 1,000 family hubs and 2,000 network sites to extend the reach into local community venues.

Ms Hamilton said: ‘We believe this will make a real, tangible difference to families, especially in the country’s most deprived areas, by improving access to advice and support with infant care and parents’ own wellbeing.’