Families with newborns in the Bristol region were “abandoned at a time of need” during the pandemic, health chiefs have admitted. Bosses at health and care provider Sirona told a council meeting that the Government’s emergency measures to redeploy most health visitors away from new parents and into adult services was the “wrong decision” that would never be repeated.
The issue was highlighted by Healthwatch South Gloucestershire which gathered firsthand accounts from 118 mums in the district who gave birth between 2020-22 as well as from service providers. Parents described their experiences as “pot luck”, with many feeling unsupported, including those suffering with depression, the patient watchdog’s report said.
Sirona head of public health nursing Nikki Lawrence told South Gloucestershire Council health scrutiny committee that it had been a mistake to temporarily change the roles of more than two-thirds of health visitors, who take over from midwives to care for families a couple of weeks after babies are born. She said: “The national learning about redeployment – we have reflected on it, the Government has reflected on it and they have agreed it was the wrong decision to make.
