Concern over baby health checks

The nine month check monitors a baby's progress

Mothers in the Forest of Dean may be missing out on the nine month development check for their children.

Women in the Forest have told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that they have been told their children cannot receive the check due to a lack of staff.

Debbie Houston, a mother-of-three from Coleford, said she had been told there was a shortage of health visitors.

But Trish Jay, of Gloucestershire care services, says the number of health visitors in the county has not fallen.

"If children have not been seen in some circumstances, we need to look and see why," she said.

Adequate resources

Ms Jay said the "nine month" check could be taken at any time between six months and a year, and there were trained support staff and nursery workers able to help health visitors in carrying out assessments.

The Forest's Conservative MP Mark Harper said he was concerned at reports that people in rural areas of Gloucestershire were not getting the same access to healthcare as those in built-up areas.

He said his party's policy was to raise funding for the health visitor service.

Ms Jay said her service prioritised children at greatest risk, but that there should be adequate resources for everyone to be seen either at a clinic or at home.

"If people are concerned, I'd ask them to contact their health visitor via their GP's clinic," she added.