CHILDREN'S lives will be put at risk if controversial proposals to axe local health care and cut front line staff are given the go-ahead, say health experts.

Recently all of the child health visitors for Worcestershire were served with a notice of impending changes to the service in order to make financial savings.

Worcestershire County Council, which funds health visiting in the county, and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, are considering three options.

Essentially, health visitors are likely to have to reduce their hours to a three day week, with two days 'redeployed into other work' or face the possibility of redundancy.

One option is to interview the entire workforce and not re-appoint a significant percentage of the staff.

One health visitor, who has worked for the trust for 21 years who wished to remain anonymous, said the move could have fatal consequences.

The worker, who sees newborns up to the age of four, said: "There will be a lot of people who are left struggling because of these plans.

"There are very serious concerns such as safeguarding issues and post-natal depression, that need to be addressed.

"Vulnerable children and families will go from having weekly check-ups to having nothing at all."

Other aspects of the proposals that cause concern are the closure of a large percentage of the Early Help child clinics and the possibility some health visitors will be moved from GP surgeries to a single hub, making communication with the rest of the primary health care team difficult.

Dr David Richards from Hagley Surgery said: "I am gravely concerned that the proposed reductions in health visiting locally are ill conceived and unsafe.

"I have fears that another tragedy awaits if standards fall across the county and an unfortunate vulnerable child slips through the net.

"If that happens then the microscope of blame should not focus on the workers that are flat out trying to do their best, but on the trust for allowing the service to be minimised in this way and the county council for commissioning such a reduced service."

Bromsgrove Councillor Steve Colella, who called for the plans to be discussed in public, called the consultation "short sighted".

"Hagley and other areas of Bromsgrove face increasing population growth, much of it from young people looking to start families. The logic to remove local care, reduce staff and to cut front line staff seems short sighted and destined to fail.

"Having support on your doorstep is vital."

The responsibility of commissioning key public health childhood services, including health visitors, transferred from the NHS to the hands of councils last year.

Councillor John Smith OBE, cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing said the county council agreed to redesign public health nursing services last year.

"Following the in-year reduction in the Public Health Ring Fenced Grant received from central government, which funds these services, a corresponding reduction has been passed on to commission these services," he said.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust said families will continue to receive a "comprehensive" health visiting service which meets national guidance.

"Additional support will be focused on more vulnerable children and families and for those living in areas of highest need to ensure that those with the greatest need receive more support, and in addition we will be developing better online resources too so that all families can more readily access a range of information and advice in a flexible way," they said.

"Some of our staff will be asked to work differently as part of this new service and we expect some of the reduction in headcount to be managed naturally, for example by not replacing those who retire or leave.

The proposals will be discussed at an overview and scrutiny meeting at Bromsgrove's Parkside Suite on October 31.