On Wednesday 3 December 2025, we came together as a health visiting community for the annual iHV Leadership Conference “Leading Health Visiting: Creating the future”. And what an unforgettable day it turned out to be! From start to finish, the atmosphere was filled with warmth and excitement – there is something truly special about gathering as one health visiting family from every corner of the UK.
Held at The King’s Fund in London, our conference brought together a packed room of in-person delegates, speakers, partners, exhibitors and many more delegates joining online.
It was an honour and a privilege to welcome such high profile and eminent speakers to our conference, who all took time out of their busy schedules to join with us and focus on driving change through health visiting. They all shared powerful messages, with a strong focus on relational and compassionate care, the power of ‘really listening’ to families and nurturing our workforce.
Our programme focused on four pillars of leading change:
- Getting it right from the start – better services by design
- Leading health visiting policy across the UK – with four nations CNO/CMidO panel
- Workforce matters
- A focus on child development – supporting all children to thrive
The conference was packed with many memorable moments; here are just a few examples (there are too many to mention all of them!):
- Alison Morton, iHV CEO, opened our conference with a keynote on leading – “Together in hope and together in action”. Alison spoke about the importance of prioritising people and how we must be a voice for children and push for lasting change – not sticking plasters. Alison thanked health visitors for the great work that is being done in health visiting across the UK – with a message that “the future is here, it’s just not everywhere”, and a call for courageous leadership to learn from the past and build a better future.
Alison Morton, iHV CEO, at iHV Leadership Conference 2025
- Dr Clea Harmer, CEO, Sands, spoke about the importance of ending racial inequalities in maternity and neonatal care, sharing very sobering data – “If, in the four years between 2017-2021, stillbirth and neonatal death rates for Black and Asian babies had been the same as for white babies – 1,704 babies would have survived”. Clea compassionately and sensitively explored why these inequalities persist, drawing on insights and learning from bereaved Black and Asian parents through the Sands Listening Project.
Dr Clea Harmer, CEO, Sands, presenting the Sands Listening Project at iHV Leadership Conference 2025
- We also heard from Lauren and Toni (iHV parent panel members) who shared powerful testimonies. They recognised that their ‘voice’ as parents mattered – and now they are using it to drive positive change at a national level. They urged health visitors to truly listen to families.
iHV’s Georgina Mayes chats with parents Lauren and Toni
- In our second keynote session “Leading health visiting policy across the UK”, we were privileged to be joined by our national leaders, from all four UK nations – with representatives from the Chief Nursing Officers (CNO) and Chief Midwifery Officers (CMidO) presenting updates from their nation. The session concluded with a panel discussion and some powerful questions from delegates, including calling for urgent action to stop ongoing cuts and strengthen health visiting in England.
Chief Nursing Officers (CNO) and Chief Midwifery Officers (CMidO) panel
- During our third keynote session, we focused on prioritising “our people” – workforce is key to everything that we do. Amongst the stellar line-up, Sally Hogg, from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, spoke about the work of The Centre – and how health visitors are the “magic ingredient” to enabling all babies and young children to have the nurturing relationships they need. We also heard from Mary Donnelly – iHV Student Award winner 2025 – who captivated the audience with her excellent presentation on her work to improve care and support for families with no recourse to public funds – a great example of leadership in action!
Sally Hogg, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, sharing the work of The Centre
Mary Donnelly – iHV Student Award winner 2025
- In keynote four, we had some fantastic speakers, including Professor Sam Wass who presented his cutting-edge research on the impact of digital technology on early brain development. Sam is working with the iHV and others to make the science available for families and professionals – in support of this, we plan to make Sam’s presentation available on our website (coming soon!!)
Professor Sam Wass presenting at iHV Leadership 2025
- The inspirational Guddi Singh closed our conference by reminding us that justice begins at the doorstep – and health visitors see the true story of child health in this country. Seeing the whole story is a clinical act, that requires a response – and that health is built through relationships as much as through systems.
Dr Guddi Singh presenting at iHV Leadership Conference 2025
You can read full details of the conference programme here.
The feedback we have received so far from our conference is overwhelmingly positive and inspiring, with many delegates sharing what they liked most about our conference:
“All of it. Great range of presentations, and key note speakers. I think possibly the best iHV conference to date!”
“The atmosphere was so welcoming, supportive, and personable from the moment we walked in. I loved the interactive discussions and the enthusiasm for sharing learning across the profession. I left feeling completely inspired by both the speakers, and by the passion and kindness that was so evident in the actions of those from the iHV who were present and organised the conference.”
“I thought the speakers and topics were excellent; covered topics which are applicable to practice which were evidence based and pitched to a level where everyone understood and could come away with advice to offer families.”
“The passion and enthusiasm for our profession and the wellbeing of children. Political views and real-life experience was a great blend.”
“This was the first leadership conference that I had attended. It was very inspiring from the start, all the presentations were thought-provoking and inspiring, and validated the work of the health visiting service.”
We would like to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to all our delegates, inspiring speakers, exhibitors and to Digital Health Transformation Service for their generous support as lead partners of our event – without whom this conference would not have been possible.
