Thousands of babies miss out on developmental health checks, HSE figures show

In 2019, public health nurses screened 53,524 infants, while last year the figure fell to just 28,184.

Thousands of newborn babies missed out on 'core' developmental health checks last year, as public health nurses were redeployed to Covid-19 work.

Public health nurses run developmental health screening programmes for infants from birth to 12 months of age. But new HSE figures indicate many babies missed out on such checks because of the suspension of “non-essential clinical work” in March of last year and the redeployment of staff.

The “number of newborn babies visited by a public health nurse within 48 hours of discharge from maternity services” fell from 44,562 in 2019 to 33,752 last year.

The “number of babies seen at the public health nurse First Visit” in 2019 stood at 43,618. But last year, this number fell to 36,839. Between January and March this year, just 600 babies were seen.

Numbers plummet

The “number of babies seen at the public health nurse 3-month assessment” plummeted from 42,009 in 2019 to 25,905 last year.

Public health nurses offer advice on feeding, parenting, and safe sleep as well as checks for mothers and babies. They advise new mothers on local parenting resources and do maternal health assessments if necessary.

The HSE also counts infants “reaching 10 months within the reporting period who have had their Child Development Health Screening on time or before reaching 12 months of age”.

However, in a written response to a parliamentary question from Cork TD Sean Sherlock, the HSE said this minimum age was changed to 12 months last year.

In 2019, public health nurses screened 53,524 infants, while last year this figure fell to just 28,184.

Between January and March this year, 3,643 toddlers had this screening.

“Post-natal visits in person can be a vital tool for new parents and especially at a time of isolation from wider family supports because of Covid," said Mr Sherlock. 

These figures are concerning given the significant drop-off compared to 2019.” 

He noted the “anecdotal baby boom on the horizon” with much speculation that lockdowns may lead to an increase in births this year.

“We need to ensure public health nurses are staffed and resourced efficiently and effectively to return to in-person visits.” 

In a written response to Mr Sherlock, HSE general manager primary care with National Community Operations, Maeve Raeside, said work has started on restoring services.

“A date for the resumption of developmental checks has not been set but the preparatory work in terms of infrastructure readiness to ensure a clean and safe environment is underway,” said Ms Raeside. 

There is now a 'continuity of system-wide healthcare services steering group' to address the problems, she said.

She said there are a number of reasons for the fall-off, including the suspension of “non-essential clinical work” in March last year.

Many public health nurses were redeployed to Covid-19 work and now to the setting up of mass vaccination clinics, she said.

“This redeployment of staff has had a significant impact on the capacity of the public health nurse service to deliver the core child health screening and surveillance programme.”