15th November 2024
Earlier this week, the iHV was delighted to welcome Duncan Burton, our Chief Nursing Officer for England, to an open meeting with practitioners from across the country to discuss the opportunities for health visiting in the government’s proposed plans for health care. Duncan joined Professor Jamie Waterall and Lynne Reed, from the Chief Public Health Nursing Directorate in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, in discussing the importance of nurses, midwives and health visitors having their voices heard in the Change NHS Consultation.
The meeting was held on Monday 11 November, as part of the iHV’s engagement with its members to help shape the iHV response to the consultation.
Alison Morton, iHV CEO, opened the event by highlighting the “crucial moment for health care that has been provided by a new government looking to set their direction of travel for the years ahead. Their ambition is to ‘fix’ the NHS which they describe as ‘broken’. The consultation is asking us to consider how we build a health service fit for the future? And it is great to see a strong emphasis on prevention.”
Focusing on health visiting, Alison asked attendees to consider, “What role does health visiting have to play? And how do we articulate that in our response to the consultation? What are your priorities, the big-ticket items – where can health visiting make the biggest difference?”
Professor Jamie Waterall provided a helpful overview of the consultation to set the scene and encouraged practitioners to complete both an individual response and to help shape the iHV response. The consultation questions focus on the government’s proposed three “shifts” in the way health and care services work in England:
- Hospital to community
- Analogue to digital
- Treatment to prevention
Health visiting has a significant contribution to make in all three of these areas. Both Jamie and Lynne then joined breakout rooms with vibrant, honest and thoughtful discussions with practitioners who shared their intelligence on what needs to change, as well as solutions and suggestions for policy priorities in the short, medium and longer term.
We had a broad spectrum of practitioners from a range of health visiting backgrounds joining the event. And they all welcomed the opportunity to then meet our new CNO for England, Duncan Burton, and share their suggestions with him in an open discussion. A nurse of more than 25 years, Duncan was most recently Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, where he led the maternity and neonatal programme and the children and young people’s transformation programme. Duncan thanked practitioners for their work with families and recognised the important role that health visitors, as Specialist Community Public Health Nurses, can play in improving outcomes for babies, children, young people and families. Duncan received a virtual “round of applause” when he emphasised that he always named “babies” in all his conversations about children, as he recognised the importance of focusing on their needs and the earliest years of life as a foundation for health and wellbeing – thanks for being a champion for babies, Duncan!
Commenting on the event, Duncan Burton, CNO England said:
“Health visiting has a significant contribution to make in all three shifts of the 10 Year Plan, so it was great to join this meeting and discuss valuable ideas and opportunities for shaping the future of health and care. Thank you to everybody who took part.“As nurses, midwives and health visitors, we all have an important part to play in improving outcomes for babies, children, young people and families. Our collective strength and impact is unique and it’s vital that our voices are heard, so please get involved and encourage your colleagues to do the same.”
Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England
Professor Jamie Waterall, Chief Public Health Nursing Directorate said:
“Thank you to the iHV for hosting this Change NHS workshop and for giving the health visiting profession the opportunity to consider their response to the government’s engagement exercise. It is vitally important our professions participate fully in this conversation about the future of the NHS. I encourage all colleagues to get involved in the regional in-person events and also share their views directly on the Change NHS website.”
The whole iHV Team would like to thank Duncan, Jamie and Lynne for carving time out of their busy diaries to meet with our members – it was very much appreciated by everyone who attended the event.
It is not too late to “have your say”:
We encourage everyone to complete an individual response to the “Change NHS” consultation by clicking ‘here’.
