Responding to an NHS England consultation on mental health The Institute of Health Visiting (IHV) suggests a move to give health visitors the lead role in supporting families with mental health issues would help recognise mental health problems at a much earlier stage and allow support to be made available much sooner.
It suggests health visitors are best placed to be able to offer mental health advice to all family members and then signpost onwards to specialists if needed.
The report, however also highlights that additional funding would be needed to support this change reversing cuts to staffing numbers and local health provision which has been evident over recent years.
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