Comparing need with resource allocation

In a study of health visitor caseloads in Bristol and Weston health authority, 16,000 families were assessed against 26 criteria known by health visitors to affect long term health. Considerable variations were found in the long term risk to the health of individual families. Families with high levels of health risk were concentrated in the caseloads of some health visitors and in a few geographical localities. The results suggest that there is a serious misallocation of health visiting resources and that steps should be taken to adjust resources to reflect more closely the patterns of need.