iHV CEO, Alison Morton, provided evidence on the impact of the pandemic on children, young people and their health services at today’s COVID-19 Inquiry Module 8 Public Hearings.

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry has been set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future.

Module 8 is examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It will consider the impact of the pandemic on children across society including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and from a diverse range of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

Alison, on behalf of the Institute of Health Visiting, was invited to be a core-participant in the Inquiry Module 8 – having previously also submitted evidence to Module 3 – Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the 4 nations of the UK (read our news story here).

Alison joined today’s other speakers: Duncan Burton (on behalf of NHS England); Prof. Steve Turner (on behalf of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health); Claire Dorer OBE (on behalf of the National Association of Special Schools); and John Barneby (on behalf of Oasis Community Learning).

Alison’s evidence

In her written submission and oral evidence today, Alison described how the needs of our nation’s babies and children were not given the attention they deserved in the emergency plans – and babies were ignored and largely forgotten. Other areas of healthcare were prioritised and the response failed to adequately consider the breadth of the pandemic’s wider harms.

As a direct consequence, too many children were harmed – yet, these harms were entirely foreseeable and predictable, and impacted child health, development and safety.

The pandemic was a highly stressful time for both families and services, with plans operationalised under huge pressure, lack of staff and multiple competing priorities. Staff came to work to do a good job – but this was very challenging. Like any emergency, lots of decisions were made; some were good, some were wrong from the start, and some were found to be flawed and caused unnecessary harm. And it took too long to reverse bad decisions.

One of the biggest failings for health visiting was the decision to “stop” the service and redeploy health visitors, under the misguided impression that they were needed most to care for acutely ill patients. In reality, health visitors were needed most on their own ‘frontline’, supporting babies, children and families during this stressful time. During the pandemic, health visitors were incredibly resourceful and supported millions of families – but as a result of these decisions, many missed out.

The second notable failing was the decision that contacts should be ‘virtual by default’. This was driven by insufficient PPE, a lack of understanding of the role of health visitors, and the importance of babies, young children and families being seen in person.

Thirdly, when it was clear that large numbers of families were struggling and demand for health visiting support soared, services should have been strengthened. Instead, health visiting experienced further cuts in real terms.

Commenting on the Inquiry, Alison said:

“It is clear that babies, children and families were failed in this pandemic. Their needs were not prioritised. Too many were not given care, support and protection when they needed it most. To put this right, children need more than an apology – because there is a burning platform for us to do better. And there are two urgent priorities:
– Firstly, for the children in this generation, now! who have been harmed, or have needs that aren’t being met. We need a national “Babies, Children and Young People Covid-19 Recovery and Rebuild Plan”. This cannot be ignored any longer – inequalities are not inevitable. And we know enough about what works to make a difference now.
– Secondly, for the babies, children and young people in the future – for the next emergency. We need to be better prepared to cope next time – as things stand now, we look to be worse off.

“It’s clear that the failures were due to systemic failures, in the way that children’s needs – and child health services – are resourced and prioritised in the heart of government. We need to create a better future. And this will take investment and a plan to tackle the root causes of poor health and rebuild child health services. This cannot be put at the bottom of the pile again.”

Recommendations

In her statement, Alison provided a full list of recommendations and set out her ‘top three’:

1. A cross-government strategy is needed to prioritise the earliest years of life and reduce inequalities. This must include actions to tackle the wider determinants of health and a commitment to world class child health services.
2. Ensure that the holistic needs of babies, children and young people are explicitly addressed in future emergency plans. And this must include the pandemic’s wider impacts.
3. Specifically for health visiting:

• Health visitors are most needed as Specialist Community Public Health Nurses working with families during emergencies. The health visiting service must be categorised to continue and not stop during these worrying times.
• There is an urgency to rebuild health visiting services in England where services have been decimated, following years of cuts. We urgently need more health visitors because health visitors are a vital child health workforce, providing a frontline service that reaches all families and works with others to ensure they get the support they need to thrive.

And this is needed to help create the healthiest generation of children ever.

Recordings

Watch a clip of Alison at the COVID-19 Inquiry Module 8 Public Hearings:

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Alison’s submission for Module 8 builds on her submission for Module 3, with the inclusion of additional evidence and iHV position statements on key issues affecting babies and young children.

See all recordings from the COVID-19 Inquiry proceedings – https://www.youtube.com/@UKCovid-19Inquiry