Healthy Child Wales Programme: Annual percentage of eligible children receiving contacts by local authority of residence, April 2019 onwards

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Next update expected:June 2026

Updates

19th December 2025
Dataset first published.

Main information

Designation
Official statistics
Data provider
Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW)
Data source
National Community Child Health Database (NCCHD)
Time period covered
January 2019 to December 2024

Overview

Summary of dataset and variables

The Healthy Child Wales Programme (HCWP) specifies nine contacts with health professionals at set points in time for children in Wales aged between 10 days and 3.5 years. Local health boards (LHB) should offer these contacts to all children in Wales.

The source of the data is the National Community Child Health Database (NCCHD); a database maintained by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW). The data is extracted routinely from LHB-held Child Health System databases. Data is for all children: includes children defined as receiving Flying Start services and not receiving Flying Start using their flying start postcode coverage.

Data collection or calculation

From 1st April 2019 health service provision for residents of Bridgend local authority moved from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg to Cwm Taf. The health board names have changed with Cwm Taf University health board becoming Cwm Taf Morgannwg University health board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University health board becoming Swansea Bay health board.

Statistical quality

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is clear in 2020, some health visitors were redeployed by health boards to work in hospitals, but the programme recovered in 2021 and the percentage of children receiving contacts since then has been at a broadly similar level to the quarters just prior to the pandemic. Contacts at 10 to 14 days, 6 weeks and 6 months were prioritised in Welsh Government guidance issued at various times during the waves of the pandemic. The data for these contacts shows less of a reduction in the percentage of children receiving contacts in 2020 than all other contact points.

Caution is advised when interpreting data for the 6 week GP appointment and the 8 week immunisation appointment, as there is a known data quality issue. The data presented is an under-count of the actual activity taking place. The issue is caused by the paper-based data collection process not being fully implemented. Steps have been taken to improve data quality, and further measures will continue to be actioned until data is more reliable.

There was a data quality issue during the quarter Jan-Mar 2024. There was strike action by health visitors on 26th February 2024 in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health board which included not inputting any statistical data for the health board or Welsh Government. This may have affected figures for the quarter January to March 2024.

Related reports

Published by

Organisation
Welsh Government
Contact email
stats.healthinfo@gov.wales