Health worker warns Suffolk nursing cuts would be 'disastrous'

The council is consulting on changes to the way it supports children, young people and families, saying that rising demand and costs that have outpaced available funding. Among the proposals is the removal of the community staff nurse role, which currently supports children and families through home visits as part of the health visiting service.

'The backbone of the service'

The health visitor, who has worked in the role for more than ten years, said staff nurses were indispensable to the service's day-to-day running.

"If we didn't have the staff nurses, I don't know how we would be able to cope – they're invaluable to the service," they said.

"[If changes go ahead] families will not get the best care, it will all be compromised, and I think safeguarding will shoot up."

Through the health visiting service, families are entitled to at least five health reviews during and after pregnancy, designed to monitor a child's health and development, support parents, and identify concerns early. Staff nurses not only help carry out these mandatory reviews, but also provide extra ongoing support where needed, including to families with pre-term babies, and those whose children have special educational needs.

The health visitor said staff had been left in "absolute disbelief" and feeling undervalued as "surplus to requirements".

What's changing – and what isn't

The proposals for health visiting would see an increase in the number of health visitors, though it remains unclear how many new posts would be created. Suffolk County Council said this was intended to strengthen clinical leadership, oversight and continuity of care, with the five mandated reviews remaining under health visitor accountability.

However, the community staff nurse role would be removed entirely, with delivery instead carried out through a revised skill mix of health visitors and Healthy Child Practitioners. The council said children and families should experience stronger health visitor oversight as a result, with antenatal, new birth and six-to-eight-week reviews led by a named health visitor wherever possible.

The changes to health visiting form only part of a much larger redesign of Suffolk's Healthy Child Service, which also covers school nursing and support for young parents.

Under the proposals, school nursing – a service for five to nineteen-year-olds, around 70% of whose referrals relate to emotional wellbeing and mental health – would shift from an open-access, referral-based model to a more targeted, digital-first offer. This would include moving to term-time-only delivery and replacing much routine one-to-one support with structured triage and signposting.

Separately, the council wants to end the Family Nurse Partnership and the Young Parent's Pathway as standalone programmes. Both currently offer intensive home-visiting support to vulnerable young parents under the age of 21, and both are described in council documents as "regularly oversubscribed with a waiting list". Support for these families would instead transfer into mainstream health visiting, backed by an enhanced Early Help offer, Best Start Family Hubs, and wider partner pathways, alongside an additional £2 million investment in Early Help.

'No final decision'

In an email to staff, the council acknowledged the changes "may feel difficult, uncertain or frustrating", but stressed no decision had been made. When asked about potential job losses, the authority repeated that no final decision had been taken, with any workforce implications subject to formal consultation with affected staff.

Cllr Paul Sutton, the council's deputy lead for public health, said the authority needed to make the best use of the resources available to it.

"That means helping children and families earlier, and making sure support is there for those who need it most," he said.

Have your say

The Healthy Child Service consultation covers health visiting, school nursing, and support to young parents under 21, including the Family Nurse Partnership and Young Parent's Pathway.

The consultation opened on 8 July and runs until 18 September. Final proposals are expected in the autumn, once feedback has been analysed and considered by the council's Public Health, Communities and Public Safety Directorate.

Residents, families, partners and stakeholders can share their views via the consultation page on the Suffolk County Council website.

The bottom line

Suffolk County Council says its Healthy Child Service can no longer be delivered in its current form within the funding available, and insists that statutory duties and safeguarding responsibilities will be protected under its proposals. But for at least one health visitor working within the service, the removal of community staff nurses is not a matter of efficiency – it is a risk to the families who depend on it most.

With the consultation open until 18 September, it is Suffolk residents – and the families who use these services – who now have the chance to have their say before any final decision is made.

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