Over the last few years our Health Visiting Team have been undergoing some important changes in line with the Government's national initiative to improve the 0 to 5 years Health Visiting Programmes across the country. Part of these changes includes our health visitors moving from being commissioned by Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC). This means that our Health Visitors will still be employed by us, however, responsibility for commissioning the Health Visiting services will fall to Dudley MBC.This transfer will open up a number of opportunities and benefits for our Health Visitors allowing them to connect more with the local community and work more closely with other agencies such as housing, children's services and education providers. The team have high hopes that this move will create a more joined up, cost effective service built around individual need.
The transfer will also see a change in how parents access the service. Currently children who are registered with a GP practice in Dudley receive a Health Visiting service from our Health Visitors. From 1st October 2015 this will change so that parents will access the service based on where they live. This means that they must have a Dudley postcode to access our Health Visitors. This change will mean that around 5 percent of families we currently work with will have to move to a new Health Visitor provider. We are working hard with all our neighbouring Trusts to make sure this process is as smooth as possible and will be communicating further on this with individuals affected in due course.
If you have any questions or require further information please contact your named Health Visitor who will be able to help.