iHV welcomes new Trustees

9th November 2023

iHV welcomes Professor Mitch Blair and Dr Michael Fanner as new Trustees

At our recent Board meeting, the iHV was delighted to welcome two new Trustees to its board – Professor Mitch Blair and Dr Michael Fanner. They have been appointed to bring additional skills to our Board at a time when the health of our nation’s babies and children is deteriorating, with widening inequalities. The health visiting profession also faces numerous challenges, as well as opportunities to help turn the situation around, with a renewed focus on the importance of prevention and early intervention in the earliest years of life across UK governments.

Thank you

This week, 6-10 November 2023, is “Trustees Week”, providing a time for us to celebrate the achievements of all charity trustees across the UK. At the iHV, we want to thank all our Trustees for the time, commitment and effort they bring to our organisation. Our Board of Trustees brings a wealth of experience from a number of sectors including research, education, senior operational leadership, media, inclusion and national policy. They add an enormous amount of value, constructive challenge and rigour to our organisation, taking on major responsibilities for no personal gain.

We look forward to working with our new Trustees and welcome them to the iHV:

• Professor Mitch Blair is Professor of Paediatrics and Child Public Health (Emeritus) at Imperial College London. He has 41 years NHS practice in General and Community Paediatrics as a Consultant Paediatrician and recently retired in July 23. Mitch is well-known to most health visitors as a co-author of “Health for All Children: 5^th Edition” and proponent of robust implementation of the Healthy Child Programme for the benefit of all children.

• Dr Michael Fanner is a health visitor and currently works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford. With previous roles as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for SCPHN education, Public Health Technical Adviser for the WHO Collaborating Centre for public health nursing, and iHV Professional Adviser for Safeguarding, Michael brings a wealth of experience in research, health visitor education and child safeguarding, as well as diversity to our Board.