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Care Opinion

Cancellation of baby weigh in clinics

Posted By Coley

"Cancellation of baby weigh in clinics"

About: Sure Start Centres

(as the patient),

I am simply concerned about the cancellation of baby weigh in clinics where parents have regular contact with their health visiting team. The clinics are not just about getting babies weighed but are so much more than that. It is the place where new mums can go to seek advice without having to make an appointment. More importantly it is the place where new mums who might not realize that there is a problem (ie post partem depression) are flagged just by coming to have their baby weighed. Where and how are these cases going to be caught now? ? I think it is a big mistake to make such drastic cuts in this vital area of the NHS.

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Responses

Response from Karon Foulkes, General Manager, Children and Young People, Health Partnerships 7 years ago
Karon Foulkes
General Manager, Children and Young People,
Health Partnerships

Submitted on 10/01/2017 at 15:30
Published on Care Opinion at 20:53

picture of Karon Foulkes

Dear Coley

Thank you for sharing your concerns. Child health clinics are still in operation but as you indicate, these will be appointment only sessions. The change that we are implementing is to move away from the generic drop-in sessions, to enable us to offer a tailored service for parents to meet their individual needs offering privacy and protected time with the Health Visitor. Other parents have fed back to us that the child health clinics are often too busy and they have to wait for long periods of time.

Anyone with a concern about their child will be able to make an appointment with their health visitor or speak to a health visitor on the phone. There will continue to be a number of checkpoint reviews where every child will be seen by their health visiting team where concerns can be identified, particularly in the early days.

Self-weigh is an additional option that could be in a Childrens Centre or other local community venue and will be made available for parents who are interested in the weight of their baby. In addition the health visiting and children centre teams will be working with the local community to ensure there are opportunities for new parents to meet and have access to advice or support.

Please be assured that we will continue to review our services through this transition and the impact this change makes on the wellbeing of the families we serve.

Kind regards

Karon Foulkes

General Manager

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