Alison Morton, iHV CEO, together with Rebecca Price, Health Visitor Service Lead at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, feature in one of a series of interviews by the Local Government Association (LGA) to mark ten years of children’s public health being within in local government – Institute of Health Visiting: How innovation is offering hope in health visiting.

This year marks a decade since responsibility for health visiting and 0–5 public health services transferred to local government. The LGA has commissioned a series of interviews with thought leaders from across the sector on their thoughts on the impact made and what more can be done to support children.

In the interview, Alison and Rebecca discuss how innovation is offering hope in what has been and remains a challenging period for the profession.

This series of interviews bring together reflections from public health leaders across the country. Their insights are honest and clear: shining a light on what is possible when services work together, making the most of the opportunities to tackle the wider determinants of health and deliver services that are responsive to local need. They also do not shy away from the “elephant in the room”, that this is not happening in all areas and families are facing a postcode lottery of support. With deteriorating child health across our nation, there is a clear imperative to act. Children today are facing rising levels of poverty, mental ill-health and preventable conditions such as obesity and tooth decay. Meanwhile, health visiting and school nursing teams are stretched thinner than ever. Now more than ever, we need a joined-up, cross-government approach for children and a properly resourced national strategy to support the workforce that serves them.

The Institute of Health Visiting very much welcomes the new NHS Long Term plan, in particular the new focus on investment into community and preventative services, and the commitment ‘….to consider whether there is a stronger role for the NHS in commissioning sexual health services, health visitors, and school nurses, and what best future commissioning arrangements might therefore be.’ (see NHS Long Term Plan page 33, 2.4).

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director iHV, said:

“This can’t happen soon enough as we continue to see fragmentation of health visiting services and a loss of very experienced health visitors across the country. This has been accompanied by an inevitable impact on the quality of services that the profession can now provide for babies and their families, our most vulnerable members of society. We know that this is leading to increased use of GP and A&E services, an increase in the number of children needing safeguarding protection, and that far too many children are starting school without adequate communication as well as other delays in their development. All these cause much greater expenditure for the state than the cost of providing a robust health visiting service and it is very encouraging to see prevention recognised in the ‘Plan’.

“We hope that this statement is the first step towards providing proper protection for primary preventative services, such as health visiting and school nursing, into the future and beyond. A cycle of investment and disinvestment, as has happened over at least the last 25 years, must now become a thing of the past so that England can be proud of the support it offers young families. Furthermore, society will feel the benefit of this with babies suffering less mental illness, less heart disease and less cancer in their later lives. These are all things that are impacted by what can happen to babies during pregnancy and the first months of life such as poor nutrition and being exposed to a poor emotional environment.

“We also hope that pledges for maternity services, such as continuity of care, will also be invested in for those receiving health visiting services. No one wants to discuss their problems with a stranger – trusted professionals in the community, such as health visitors, can literally change lives when their help is sought.

“In addition, we are delighted by the significant attention which the plan gives to addressing health inequalities. This is something which health visitors and the Institute see as key to creating healthy communities, so it’s very encouraging to see it so well articulated in the ‘Plan’.

“Whilst the commissioning of health visiting services is being re-examined as recommended by the Institute in its 10 year plan (September 2018), we call for the strengthening of training commissions in 2019 as a visual demonstration of the commitment to the professional contribution of health visitors as laid out in the ‘Plan’. This would start to rebuild the profession to a place where its impact can be felt once again.”

PHE and Unicef UK are delighted to announce the launch of “Commissioning Infant Feeding Services: A toolkit for Local Authorities”.

This publication provides guidance to help local commissioners protect, promote and support breastfeeding. The document is jointly branded by Public Health England and Unicef UK and includes endorsements from:

  • Sally Davis, Chief Medical Officer
  • Viv Bennett, Chief Nurse
  • Kevin Fenton, Director, Public Health England

The document has several parts:

  • Summary: highlights key messages and themes.
  • Part 1, Infographics: these colourful, easy to use slides give a concise and accessible overview.  Please feel free to use these in your own presentations.
  • Part 2, Toolkit: details what success would look like for a commissioner working within their local authority to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.
  • Part 3, Data: sets out guidance on effective data collection, monitoring and reporting.

This will be used by our new local authority commissioners. This guidance is for local authorities commissioning ‘public health services for children and young people’ and in particular delivering the Healthy Child Programme 0-5 and 5-19.

The Healthy Child Programme aims to bring together health, education and other main partners to deliver an effective programme for prevention and support.

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