Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) health visitors in the Flying Start workforce, by local authority
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Health visitors
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Title
Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) health visitors in the Flying Start workforce, by local authoriLast update
12 November 2024Next update
October 2025 (Provisional)Publishing organisation
Welsh GovernmentSource 1
Welsh Government Flying Start Data Monitoring ReturnsContact email
stats.healthinfo@gov.walesDesignation
Management informationLowest level of geographical disaggregation
Local authoritiesGeographical coverage
Local authoritiesLanguages covered
English and WelshData licensing
You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licenceStatistical quality
Data from 2020-21 and 2021-22 was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In years prior to the pandemic, in general only face-to-face contacts were recorded as Flying Start contacts. Welsh Government guidance issued in June 2021 stated that, as a general rule any targeted activity conducted via different means during the pandemic (i.e. virtual contacts through Skype or Whatsapp) should be recorded in the same way as face-to-face contacts were recorded previously. The guidance also stated that local authorities should exercise their professional judgement when determining if a virtual contact was meaningful enough to be recorded.Local authorities have provided additional feedback on how services were affected in 2021-22, and these included:
• some parenting and speech, language and communication (SLC) programmes were either not run or not able to be completed
• some childcare sessions had low attendance due to continued parental concern over COVID-19
• some parents chose not to take-up childcare which they may have accepted prior to the pandemic
• some Flying Start staff would have been self-isolating, shielding or unwell which affected the service offered
• some contacts recorded as face-to-face contacts may have taken place over the phone or virtually.
These factors need to be considered when using data for 2021-22. Services in 2022-23 were also affected by the pandemic. Whilst the enforced restrictions and adaptions to service delivery seen in 2021-22 were not seen in 2022-23, there may still have been some disruption caused by localised outbreaks of the virus. Furthermore, some of the virtual delivery of Parenting courses, SLC and health visitor services was retained as part of programme delivery for 2022-23 either due to personal choice or because it was deemed to be an effective means of reaching some families depending on individual circumstances. Caution is therefore advised when comparing data from 2022-23 with pre-pandemic figures.
Health Visiting in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda Cynon Taf are piloting a new health visiting model which means that data for 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 are collected on a different basis to previous years. This may mean that any differences between previous years and any differences with other local authority areas may be due to the different service provision model. Therefore, caution is advised when comparing Rhondda Cynon Taf data with previous years and when comparing with other local authorities in 2022-23.
A full quality report is published alongside this statistical release and can be accessed via the weblinks.
General description
Flying Start is the Welsh Government early years programme delivered by local authorities in Wales. It is aimed at improving outcomes for families with children under 4 years of age in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Wales.Data collection and calculation
The wider health team is defined as those staff with a professional health or social care registration, funded by the Flying Start programme. It will include staff who are:• non-case holding health manager
• dieticians
• midwives
• clinical psychologists
• educational psychologists
• speech and language therapists
• social workers
• community nurses (with an appropriate qualification)
• occupational therapists
• any other health or care professionals
The definition of ‘other staff’ includes any unregistered staff. This typically means those who are not fully qualified and those who assist fully qualified health professionals in delivering services.
Local authorities submit data for the number of hours worked by each staff group in each term of the year. A conversion factor is then applied to estimate the number of full-time equivalent staff. This calculation provides a consistent measure across all local authorities and takes into account maternity, long term illness and holiday/s or days off.
The conversion factors apply to each term. As the terms do not have the same number of weeks in them, the conversion factors also differ. In 2022-23 the conversion factor uses 18 weeks for term 1; 15 weeks for term 2; and 11 weeks for term 3. A full-time equivalent is counted for 37.5 hours worked per week for all staff groups.
The conversion factor formula is: number of hours worked in term divided by (number of weeks in term multiplied by 37.5).
Data on the number of staff directly employed by the NHS is published by Welsh Government and is collected in an entirely different way. Therefore, it is not comparable to any data published using Flying Start data monitoring forms.
