Freedom of Information request 070-2122

We are contacting you to ask for further information on how your health visiting services have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As you may recall, Dr. Gabriella Conti, professor at the Department of Economics, University College London, and our team are working to evaluate the impact of health visiting on health outcomes in England. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic we have been concerned about the families and children that rely on health visitors for vital care and safeguarding. Our research on health visiting during the pandemic has already reached policy makers and chief nurses, was cited in the recent Westminster Hall Debate on maternal mental health led by Sarah Olney MP, and was featured on a BBC radio programme and in news outlets such as the Guardian. You have already provided us with highly valuable information on your health visiting services during the first wave of COVID-19. We released our findings in a briefing note – do let us know if you would like us to share this with you. This has been shared widely and was well received by Andrea Leadsom’s Early years healthy development review team. Thank you for your helpful responses. We hope to continue improving awareness of the challenges faced by health visiting teams and raising health visiting up the policy agenda. Our first FOI request asked about staff redeployment up to September, but the pandemic continued, with further waves of COVID-19. We are, therefore, seeking information on your health visiting teams for the subsequent period. We are writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. Regarding how Covid-19 has affected your health visiting teams for Gloucestershire County Council since September 2020: 1. Have you redeployed any health visiting staff between 1st September and 31st March? 2. If Q1 is yes, what was the start date of redeployment? The date on which the first staff member left their post for redeployment between 1st September and 31st March.. Please indicate in your response if redeployment was ongoing from before September. 3. If Q1 is yes, what was the end date of redeployment? The date on which the last staff member returned to their post from redeployment between 1st September and 31st March.. 4. If Q1 is yes, what was the maximum number of full time equivalent FTE. health visitors both with and without caseload. that were redeployed because of COVID-19 between: a. 1st September and 7th October[1] 2020? b. 8th October and 31st December 2020? c. 1st January and 31st March 2021? 5. If Q1 is yes, what was the maximum number of FTE clinical staff working in health visiting teams who are NOT coded as health visitors. both with and without caseload. that were redeployed because of COVID-19 between: a. 1st September and 7th October 2020? b. 8th October and 31st December 2020? c. 1st January and 31st March 2021? Regarding your health visiting teams for Gloucestershire County Council on the 1st February 2021: 6. How many FTE health visitors were employed in your health visiting teams? Both with and without caseload.. Please provide this information broken down by NHS pay band. 7. How many FTE health visitors with caseload were employed in your health visiting teams? Please provide this information broken down by NHS pay band. 8. How many FTE clinical staff who are NOT coded as health visitors. were employed in your health visiting teams? Both with and without caseload.. Please provide this information broken down by NHS pay band. 9. How many FTE clinical staff who are NOT coded as health visitors. with caseload were employed in your health visiting teams? Please provide this information broken down by NHS pay band. 10. What was the total number of children under 5 years of age that your health visiting teams were responsible for? The attached table makes it clear exactly what we are requesting - please use this as a template. _________________________________________________________________________________ Regarding the questions above: - For your answers, please either use the NHS Digital definition of health visitor below or alternatively provide the definition that you are using in your answer. _________________________________________________________________________________ Definitions: Definition used by NHS Digital re. Health visitors notes 28 and 29 from the nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff matrix of Occupation Code Manual.: 28. Please ensure to code the following as Health Visitors: * qualified nurses/midwives who also hold a qualification as a Registered Health Visitor under the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing part of the NMC Register working directly with children and families; * qualified and registered Health Visitors who perform specific activities such as providing breastfeeding advice to parents; * family nurses working within the Family Nurse Partnership Programme who are qualified and registered as Health Visitors; * Sure Start Children’s Centre qualified and registered named Health Visitors; * managers within a Health visiting team who hold a health visiting qualification and registration and are involved in clinical work or safeguarding. 29. Please ensure that the following employees are not coded as Health Visitors: * any person working in a health visiting team who does not hold a qualification and registration as a Health Visitor; * any person who holds a qualification and registration as a Health Visitor but is not employed in a role where this is a requirement; * managers within a health visiting team who hold health visiting qualification and registration but are not involved in clinical work or safeguarding. Please see below the general definition for ‘health visitor’ from the Occupation Code Manual: Health Visitor: an employee who holds a qualification as a Registered Health Visitor under the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing part of the NMC Register and who occupies a post where such a qualification is a requirement. Not below Agenda for Change Band 6. _________________________________________________________________________________