Chief Nursing Officer for England, Dame Ruth May, visited the Birmingham Forward Steps (BFS) health visiting hub to mark its first full year supporting communities in the city.
Image credit: Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
The hub provides a single point of access for those seeking advice from a health visitor, saving Birmingham parents, carers and families precious time and making it easier for NHS professionals to provide real-time advice to those most in need.
Claire Paintain, children and families divisional director at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC), said:
“We are immensely proud to showcase the great work of the health visiting hub and our Birmingham Forward Steps health visiting teams.
“Dame Ruth saw our innovative approach to supporting our district teams, with the introduction of specialist health visitor roles such as ‘temporary accommodation’ and ‘strengthening families’ that support families and children who are most in need.
“Dame Ruth’s visit demonstrates BCHC leading by example to help improve the wellbeing of parents and carers across the Birmingham community.”
During the visit, Dame Ruth saw how all incoming unplanned and additional referrals, queries, and concerns have been centralised, allowing district teams to better focus on the mandated child health programme and meet the needs of the most vulnerable.
She also saw that a high bar for excellence has been set in Birmingham, with calls answered inside an average of three minutes.
Dame Ruth May said:
“It was fantastic to visit Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and to meet the health visiting team.
“The service offered by the hub and the introduction of specialist health visitor roles helps people to have quick and easy access to the right advice and support, which is so important.
“It was great to learn more about the specialist support the team provides to meet the needs of families and communities in Birmingham.”
Currently being piloted in Erdington, Sutton Coldfield, Selly Oak and Ladywood, plans are in place to have all Birmingham areas and families supported by the hub service by the end of summer 2024.
The Health Visiting Hub
Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, the health visiting (HV) hub provides a single point of access for parents, carers and professionals seeking advice from a health visitor.
Launched in January 2024, it currently covers four areas of Ladywood, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Selly Oak with plans to include the remaining six districts services this year.
A central team of admin and health visitors handle unplanned work, releasing clinical teams for planned work. The hub focuses on providing a simplified, integrated system of a single point of access for Birmingham – offering faster response rates to parents, partners and other stakeholders.
