28th November 2025
In this Voices Blog, we hear directly from the iHV Awards 2025 winners who led innovative projects that demonstrate true leadership in action—driving change, improving outcomes, and inspiring others across the profession. Their stories showcase creativity, resilience, and a commitment to excellence.
Meet the winners, read their reflections, listen to their podcasts and be inspired – next year you could be an iHV Awards winner! We will be announcing the 2026 Awards early next year.
The SCPHN Lecturer Award 2025 is awarded to a lecturer who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in strengthening the quality of education provision for SCPHN health visiting students.
Winner – Jen Kirman
Jennifer Kirman
Listen to Jen’s podcast here:
Jennifer qualified as an adult nurse in 2001, working in gynaecology before moving into midwifery. She became a health visitor in 2007; her last role within the NHS was Breastfeeding Lead and Public Health Project Lead, in Hillingdon. In 2012, Jennifer joined Buckinghamshire New University as a senior lecturer, before becoming course lead for SCPHN at Oxford Brookes in 2014. Jen is a Principal Fellow (Advanced HE) and Associate Professor. Jen led the development and delivery of a fully online SCPHN course which increased accessibility for NMC-registered nurses and midwives to SCPHN education and training and a career pathway into health visiting.
Jen shares:
“SCPHN students are predominantly women, mature (defined as over 21-years-old), and commonly have caring responsibilities. I noticed the benefits of online teaching for postgraduate learners during the pandemic, and surveyed SCPHN students to inform the programme redesign. We offered a blended SCPHN course following the pandemic, and continued to evaluate our approach to ensure the redesign met the needs of learners from diverse communities. This resulted in the fully online programme being validated by the NMC in November 2024 (endorsed by partners, alumni, students, and people with lived experience).
“The pandemic offered the opportunity to reconsider teaching and assessing practices to embrace advancements in technology, leadership and educational approaches, and to recognise growing mental health needs of students (Hughes and Spanner, 2024); all of which call for a more inclusive, kinder and compassionate staff and student experience in universities (Peck and Shaw, 2024). This approach diverges from conventional practices in universities, which can be seen to exacerbate avoidable ‘suffering’ through inadequate systems, processes, and leadership practices (Kanov, 2020). I believe that compassionate and trauma-informed practices are central to contemporary curriculum design and accessibility of learning in HEIs. Feedback indicates that this programme is accessible to people who may not have otherwise been able to commit to becoming SCPHN practitioners. We are role modelling compassionate leadership in action to the next generation.”
The iHV SCPHN Student Health Visitor Award 2025 is awarded to students whose service innovations demonstrates leadership in action to strengthen the quality of service provision for babies, children and families.
1st Place – Mary Donnelly
Mary Donnelly
Listen to Mary’s podcast here:
I am a newly qualified Health Visitor working within the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, having recently completed my SCPHN training at Ulster University. I qualified as a Registered Nurse in 2020 and began my career in Neonatal Intensive Care, gaining valuable experience in supporting vulnerable families, which provided a strong foundation for Health Visiting.
During my training, I completed a community profile which highlighted a growing number of migrant families facing cultural barriers to accessing healthcare, including some with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) status — a restriction which limits access to support such as disability benefits, housing, and carer’s allowance. This helped me to see more clearly how the wider social determinants play a vital role in population health.
This learning came into focus when I supported a family whose NRPF status and poor housing conditions were having a serious impact on their wellbeing. Their young daughter, who had disabilities and health complexities, was living in damp, mouldy accommodation, placing her at increased risk of respiratory illness and adding to the family’s already high stress.
I researched legislation and guidance to fully understand how best to support the family. Working in partnership with social services and voluntary organisations, I used this evidence base to advocate for the family and helped coordinate housing intervention and community support. Through effective multi-agency working, the family were eventually relocated to a safer home, improving their ability to focus on their daughter’s care.
The learning from this experience has been shared with wider teams to strengthen understanding of NRPF and reaffirm our duty to promote the safety, health and wellbeing of all children, regardless of immigration status. I am planning a practice-based learning session to continue raising awareness of how social and immigration factors affect family health. This experience reminded me of the power of advocacy and the voice that health visitors have in promoting equity and influencing real change for the families we support.
2nd Place – Olivia Farley
Olivia Farley
Listen to Olivia’s podcast here:
I am a newly qualified Health Visitor at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, having completed my SCPHN training at Manchester Metropolitan University. I’ve been a registered children’s nurse for nine years, primarily in oncology and haematology. After becoming a parent, I gained a deep appreciation for the health visiting service and chose to use my experience supporting families through trauma to help others transition into parenthood in this privileged role. Since completing the course, I’ve had the achievement of publishing an article and plan to publish more.
For my SCPHN course project, I identified a need to improve school readiness in the local community. Many families in deprived areas lacked access to green spaces and structured play. To address this, I developed an outdoor stay-and-play group in partnership with a local church, supporting early years children and their families during the summer holidays when most services pause.
The group offered child-led, inclusive outdoor activities that fostered exploration, creativity, and physical and social development. Using the church’s allotments encouraged curiosity about food and healthy eating, while quieter areas ensured accessibility for children with additional needs. By collaborating, adapting to families’ needs, and responding to feedback, we ensured the group was effective and inclusive.
Positive outcomes included improved child development, enhanced family wellbeing, stronger community connections, sustained access to outdoor play. Due to its success and positive feedback, the group will continue during school holidays, offering a sustainable, community-based approach to reducing health inequalities, strengthening early years support and school readiness.
3rd Place – Mel Hanson
Mel Hanson
Listen to Mel’s podcast here:
I recently trained as a Student Health Visitor at the University of Derby. I now work as Health Visitor for Nottingham City Care Partnership in the Transient Families Team – supporting Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Travellers and families from diverse and often extremely vulnerable communities. It was during my SCPHN studies that I identified a significant gap in practice relating to the recognition and management of jaundice in babies with darker skin tones. This led to the development of my initiative — a training package designed for health visitors and midwives to enhance confidence, clinical awareness, and early decision-making in jaundice recognition. The programme addresses the limitations in current visual assessment guidance for non-white-skinned babies and the potential risks this presents for delayed diagnosis. It incorporates education, reflective discussion, and case-based learning with the aim of improving clinical practice and ensuring safer, more equitable outcomes for all babies.
The training initiative formed the basis of my university course business case, which explored how earlier recognition could reduce hospital admissions, lower NHS costs, and contribute to tackling longstanding health inequalities. Looking ahead, I endeavour to refine the training using practitioner and Trust feedback, expand access across services, and work towards influencing national policy and clinical guidance regarding jaundice assessment in babies with darker skin. My long-term ambition is to ensure that equity in neonatal assessment becomes standard practice, so that no child is at increased risk simply due to the colour of their skin.
