9th June 2023
iHV has a committed and highly regarded team, with professional expertise in numerous public health priority topics for babies, young children, and families. We also engage with practitioners and parents/ carers to support the co-production of our work and outputs through our Health Visitor Advisory Forum, regular networking events, surveys, and bespoke project and training co-production groups.
To strengthen the iHV team, we also have a growing number of Expert Adviser roles. These voluntary roles are a critical part of ensuring that the perspectives of our members are represented and that the iHV’s decisions and policy positions are rooted in current practice and evidence.
Following an open recruitment process, we have recently appointed two new iHV Expert Advisers to join our existing advisers, for the specialist topics of infant feeding and safeguarding. Our new expert advisers are health visitors and leading experts in their field and their role is to offer expert subject guidance, to support the work of the iHV.
We are absolutely delighted to announce our new iHV Expert Advisers:
Pippa Atkinson – iHV Expert Adviser for Infant Feeding
Pippa is an experienced health visitor and an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. She has worked as a specialist health visitor in infant nutrition. Pippa has experience of leading on the implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) standards for health visiting and was the clinical lead for a breastfeeding peer support service, providing specialist support to families.
Currently, Pippa is a lecturer in Health Visiting and is the BFI health visiting lead at the University of Central Lancaster (UCLan). Pippa is also a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for the North West Coast (NWC) doctoral fellow, exploring how the BFI standards influence the infant feeding experiences of women from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Trish Stewart – iHV Expert Adviser for Safeguarding
Trish Stewart is the Associate Director of Safeguarding at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH), managing a team of safeguarding children and adult specialist practitioners, working across 11 London boroughs and Hertfordshire.
Trish has experience in complex case management, partnership working, strategic planning and quality assurance in healthcare, including public health nursing and general practice. Trish’s interest in leadership in safeguarding led her to undertake the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme with the NHS Leadership Academy, gaining a Master’s in Healthcare Leadership (MSc) and a Senior Healthcare Leadership Award in 2017.
Trish’s passion for safeguarding and supporting frontline practitioners is something she hopes to further champion with the iHV.
