Doncaster Council renews Healthy Child Programme with no major changes

In a cabinet meeting last week, Doncaster Council’s cabinet voted to renew its Healthy Child Programme which has been in place since 2012.

The programme means that pregnant women and new parents are visited five times to ensure the health of their foetuses or young children.

Healthy Child Programmes have been a requirement for all local authorities since the Health and Social Care Act of 2012.

Doncaster Council also incorporates smoking cessation support for pregnant women into its services.

The city’s programme performs well when compared to other services nationally, therefore the council recommended no major changes to the service.

There are however plans to expand on the health visiting remit and upskill current workers.

Until now, the service was carried out by Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust (RDaSH).

This contract is due to come to an end next year without renewal, meaning the service will be passed on to the Director of Public Health.