Every secondary school in England should have its own nurse in a bid to reduce rates of mental health problems and sexually transmitted infections, a report recommended today.
There should be at least one full-time school nurse covering every secondary school and its cluster of primary schools, according to the government's chief nursing officer (CNO), Sarah Mullally.
The call came in a review of how to improve local health services for children and young people, as part of the government's child welfare reform programme in the wake of the murder of child abuse victim Victoria Climbie.
Ms Mullally said that school nurses could play a greater role in tackling growing public health problems, such as the spiralling rate of childhood obesity.
Her review of how health visitors, nurses and midwives could better support and protect vulnerable children and their families identified gaps and omissions in services.
She highlighted the need for a significant increase in healthcare accessible to school-age children and better support for their parents, and a greater emphasis on child and adolescent mental health.
The report identified a "mismatch" between the needs of vulnerable children and the skills and knowledge of the nurses, midwives and health visitors who work with them. In particular, their skills and knowledge of child protection, public health and parenting support need strengthening.
The review was welcomed by the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association (CPHVA), which represents health visitors and school and community nurses.
But the CPHVA warned that an extra 500 school nurses need to be employed to meet the report's recommendations. Its director, Mark Jones, said: "Without extra health visitors and school nurses out there in the community on a daily basis, the risk of another tragic case, such as the death of Victoria Climbie, remains ever-present."
The health secretary, John Reid, agreed that the number of school nurses needed to increase.
He said: "We want to see the NHS increase the number of school nurses. For too long the needs of schoolchildren have been overlooked and school nursing services have suffered as a result. We want to see the NHS put that right."
The CNO review said there are 13,000 health visitors and 2,500 school nurses in England, compared with 40,000 social workers and 440,000 teachers.
Mr Jones said that community nurses were the "poor relation" in terms of the numbers of frontline staff. Many of the 13,000 health visitors worked part-time and up to a quarter of the workforce is due to take retirement in the next five years. Fiona Smith, paediatric adviser at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said the number of training places for children's nurses needed to increase in order to achieve the CNO's recommendations.
Beverly Malone, general secretary of the RCN, said that if every school had a nurse "enormous strides could be taken in tackling issues affecting young people such as obesity or sexual activity".
She added: "We also recognise that strong links need to be built between children's and practice nurses, health visitors and community children's nurses, so that the specific needs of children are met."
