If the current proposals go ahead as Kent County Council suggest in their consultation documents (released October 2017), this will have a wide-ranging impact on the county of Kent. One of the changes we fear is that breastfeeding mothers will need to see their GP for advice, where they are struggling to get the support they really need.
If you are also concerned about the potential pressures on your GP and your local surgery, why not write to them? We have provided the following letter that you can, of course, use in its entirety or edit to your heart’s content. The content below is simply a suggestion!
Dear Dr ____
I am writing to you to highlight the current Infant Feeding Consultation that Kent County Council is currently holding. It concludes on the 3rd December 2017.
As you may be aware, there are currently several breastfeeding groups and clinics that breastfeeding mothers can attend. Many of these clinics offer free, open access to breastfeeding specialists like Breastfeeding Counsellors and Lactation Consultants.
The new proposals that Kent County Council are looking for responses to will drastically reduce breastfeeding mothers’ ability to access these specialists: they will no longer be able to see Breastfeeding Counsellors and drop-in access to Lactation Consultants has been removed in favour of appointments.
There will be 4 clinics in Kent with 6 appointments per week. I feel that this is far too few appointments but I also feel that access to specialists should remain as it is currently, at an informal drop-in group.
The responsibility for breastfeeding support will now be under the remit of health visitors. Whilst I value the knowledge and expertise of HVs, I am concerned that they are too generalised to be able to offer as much help to breastfeeding mothers as the current breastfeeding support services do.
I believe these changes will seriously impact on breastfeeding rates in our locality and also impact on the amount of breastfeeding support that women will need from their GP. Overall, I think this is something that the GPs at my practice needed to know about.
I would urge you to read the consultation documents available at www.kent.gov.uk/infantfeeding and to review the campaign website at keepkentbreastfeeding.org, where a group of grassroots campaigners have put their concerns and stories of how the current service must be preserved as much as possible.
Thank you for your time – it would be so appreciated if you (and your colleagues) could respond to the consultation in your capacity as a GP.
Kind regards,
Your patient, <NAME>
