Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will put in place three additional universal health visiting contacts at (a) three to five weeks, (b) three months and (c) three and half years to increase the opportunity for early detection of children with cerebral palsy and refer those children with early signs of that condition to specialised care pathways.

Five mandated health reviews for children aged 0 to five years old are offered to all families. However, mandated reviews are not the full extent of the health visiting service offer and additional contacts and reviews are considered where health visiting teams could respond to a family’s identified needs. Health visitors utilise their clinical judgement and can refer children to a specialist teams to assess for cerebral palsy if needed.