A new organisation dedicated to health visitors was officially launched last night at an event in London.
The Institute of Health Visiting will seek to “promote excellence in health visiting practice to benefit all children, families and communities”.
As reported earlier this month, the organisation aims to nurture leaders and enhance public understanding of the health visitor role, as well as supporting research and improving the quality of education.
Its founding director is Cheryll Adams, a senior health visitor, who has been a DH advisor, and is a member of the Nursing Times advisory board.
She said she was “very honoured” to be helping found an organisation with the “potential to directly strengthen the practice of all health visitors, and in turn, to improve health outcomes”.
Commenting on the launch of the new institute, Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary Peter Carter said: “Health visitors are under constant pressure to improve the health of families around the country. They play a vital role in a child’s development and help manage the long term impacts of public health problems such as smoking and alcohol on families.
“We look forward to working closely with the new institute to ensure that this difficult but important work is getting the support it deserves.”