Tags: conference

Open access to ‘UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Pertussis Update’

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recently presented a national update on Pertussis at the iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference on 3 July 2024. With UKHSA’s permission, we have now made the recording of this session ‘open access’ so it can be shared and viewed more widely with health visitors and health visiting team members across the UK.

UKHSA is calling on frontline clinicians to promote the uptake of the pertussis vaccine.  Pregnant women should receive a pertussis-containing vaccination between 20- and 32-weeks’ gestation and with every pregnancy. Health visitors have a crucial role in discussing vaccinations with pregnant women and promoting vaccine uptake.

Watch the recording of the UKHSA Pertussis Update at iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference here.

In her presentation, Dr Helen Campbell (Lead Clinical Scientist at the UKHSA Immunisation team) highlights the clinical features of pertussis:

  • It is a bacterial infection affecting the lungs
  • Initial symptoms resemble a cold, such as a runny nose and sore throat
  • After about a week, severe coughing bouts can develop, typically worse at night (known as the 100-day cough)
  • Young babies may make a distinctive ‘whoop’ sound or have difficulty breathing after coughing.

Helen shared a very powerful video which shows a young baby who is experiencing a long bout of coughing and whooping: https://youtu.be/S3oZrMGDMMw (WARNING: this video may be upsetting for some viewers).

New data published by UKHSA show a concerning increase in Pertussis cases:

  • May 2024: 2,591 confirmed cases
  • April 2024: 2,106 confirmed cases
  • March 2024: 1,427 confirmed cases
  • February 2024: 920 confirmed cases
  • January 2024: 555 confirmed cases

This brings the total number of cases from January to May 2024 to 7,599.

Sadly, there have been 9 infant deaths since the current outbreak began in November last year with one death in December 2023 and eight deaths between January and May 2024.

Young babies are at the highest risk of severe complications and death from pertussis. Evidence from England shows that vaccination at the right time in pregnancy is highly effective, giving 92% protection against infant death. However, the latest uptake data for the vaccination offered to pregnant women shows a decline:

  • March 2024: 58.9% coverage
  • March 2017: Peak coverage of 72.6%

Timely vaccination during pregnancy and in childhood is crucial to protect vulnerable and young babies from serious diseases. Babies should receive three doses of the 6-in-1 vaccine at 8, 12, and 16 weeks, followed by a pre-school booster. Health visitors have a vital role in:

  • recommending pertussis vaccination
  • checking vaccine status
  • providing guidance on where and when to obtain vaccinations
  • addressing any queries parents or caregivers may have.

For further information and to access UKHSA resources on Pertussis, click here.

UKHSA has recently published a powerful new blog post  by Jenny, a parent who shares her terrifying experience of her three week old daughter, Layla and her struggle with pertussis.

Call for iHV EBP 2025 abstracts now open!

Healthier Beginnings

Call for Abstracts

Want to be part of our fantastic conference next year?

Call for abstracts for iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference 2025 is now open!

Submit your abstract for our iHV Evidence-based Practice conference “Healthier Beginnings” which will be held at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester on Thursday 8 May 2025.

With a new government and changes in nurse leadership across many UK nations, we are entering a new era for child and family health in the UK. With change, there is also opportunity – and as a profession, health visitors across the UK will be leading our profession into the future. We believe in the power of health visiting innovation, research, and evidence-based practices to create a brighter, healthier future for all babies, children and families – and the impact that we have is magnified when we come together and learn from each other.

Be part of our conference platform in 2025 – join local, national, and international experts and speakers and share your cutting-edge developments in health visiting practice, innovation and the latest research to address health inequalities and improve health outcomes for babies, children and families.

What are the benefits of presenting at the iHV conference?

It’s an excellent opportunity for you to:

  • Raise your own profile as a speaker at a UK-wide conference
  • Raise the profile of your organisation and showcase your work
  • Connect, collaborate and learn from other practitioners working in the field of health visiting and family public health
  • Add your experience of presenting to your CV and boost your career

Top-scoring abstract authors have the chance to present their work as a concurrent session speaker, or even a plenary talk in the main auditorium (you can indicate your preferences – allocation will depend on scoring and topic selection).

What are the presentation opportunities?

  • A short oral breakout session presentation
  • An oral concurrent presentation
  • A plenary keynote presentation

Abstract timeline:

  • Submissions: The abstract submission deadline is 7 October 2024.
  • Notifications: After an iHV peer-review process, participants will be informed of acceptance of abstracts for either oral keynote/concurrent presentation, or an oral breakout presentation, by 24 October 2024.
For further details and how to submit

We look forward to reading your abstracts and hearing about your practice innovations and research! Any questions – please email [email protected].

Another fabulous conference! And call for abstracts for 2025!

Yesterday, we had an amazing day at the iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference 2024: A Healthier Future. We had a packed conference hall, with delegates and speakers joining from all UK nations, both in-person in Manchester plus many more online – there was an incredible buzz in the room! Our conference showcased the very best of health visiting practice and research. From start to finish, the event was packed with examples of the difference that health visiting can make, led by practitioners and with families at the heart of our work.

Alison Morton opens iHV EBP 2024

iHV EBP 2024

We would like to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to our delegates, our inspiring speakers – including our parent speakers who are experts by experience –  our wonderful exhibitors and our generous sponsor – the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

UKHSA Sponsor stand at iHV EBP 2024

Dr Helen Campbell, Lead Scientist in the Immunisation Division at the UKHSA, opened our conference with the breakfast sponsor session by delivering a very important national update on pertussis. She shared data on the worrying rise of pertussis cases in infants in 2024 and called for health visitors to promote the uptake of the pertussis vaccine for pregnant women.

Dr Helen Campbell presenting the iHV EBP 2024 Sponsor Breakfast Session

Dr Helen Campbell, Lead Scientist in the Immunisation Division at UKHSA, giving the Sponsor Breakfast Session

With two plenary keynote sessions, eight concurrent sessions, plus two simultaneous oral breakout sessions, there was plenty for delegates to learn and enjoy. There were so many highlights from the day, here are just a few examples (there are too many to mention):

  • Keynote session one focused on tackling inequalities in both maternal mortality and racially-driven inequalities for babies and children. We were delighted to be joined by expert speakers from MBRRACE (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audit and Confidential Enquiries) and the NHS RHO (Race Health Observatory). This session also included a very powerful ‘armchair’ conversation with Lauren Clarke and Matt Wynter who are parents and experts by experience – they described their personal experiences of having serious neonatal jaundice missed due to poor recognition of the condition in babies with darker skin colour.
  • Keynote session two explored the evidence and research to reduce health inequalities. Professor Sally Kendall and Dr Erica Gadsby focused on health visiting research during the COVID-19 pandemic and Professor Helen Bedford shared the national data and research on vaccinations focusing on the vital role that health visitors play in improving vaccination uptake.
  • Alison Morton, iHV CEO, delivered the final keynote presentation on ‘Radical health visiting – driving change’ and shared 3 key messages – “Get real, get radical and get on!”
  • Chris Whitman and Hannah Potter, both from Leeds Community Healthcare, won best poster presentation for the oral breakout sessions following their successful abstract submissions. A huge congratulations once again from #TeamiHV!

Winners of the iHV EBP 2024 Poster Award: Chris Whitman and Hannah Potter, receiving their awards from Alison Morton

Our conference programme brought together local, national, and international experts and speakers who focused on strengthening health visiting practice. We explored together how we can build on the present to help shape the future of health visiting and tackle inequalities and improve outcomes for babies, children and families. The day was a huge success, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Some early conference feedback we have received so far includes:

“Really effective speakers – enjoyed the sessions and learned so much”

“Just totally absorbing”

“Really good to hear what’s happening around the country”

“Really good hearing what a diverse range of research that is going on in health visiting and public health”

“Go out there and be brave”

“Feel totally motivated and fired up. Exactly what was needed”

“It was just an excellent experience”

Call for abstracts 2025

If you would like to be part of our EBP conference next year on 8 May 2025 at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester, our call for abstracts for iHV EBP Conference 2025: ‘Healthier Beginnings’ is now open! To find out more, click here.

We can’t wait to see you next year!

Bookings now open for iHV PIMH Conference 2024

We are delighted to announce the launch of our 6th annual Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) Conference ‘Dismantling the Barriers: collaborative approaches to perinatal mental health care’, taking place on Thursday 19 September 2024 as a half-day virtual conference.

Anyone can experience mental health problems during pregnancy or after having a baby. Without adequate support these problems can impact negatively on short and long-term outcomes for the whole family. Stigma and fear of child removal remain significant barriers to families seeking support for perinatal mental health concerns. Some families are at greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, particularly where they face multiple disadvantages and systemic inequalities. They’re also less likely to be offered the care they need.

Evidence suggests that improved professional competence, closer multi-agency working and training, and collaboration with parents from diverse backgrounds can improve outcomes for families experiencing poor perinatal mental health, particularly where multiple adversity exists.

This conference will focus on raising awareness of families whose perinatal mental health needs are less well met and understood. It will be suitable for all practitioners working with families in the perinatal period as well as service leads, commissioners, researchers and policy makers.

We are delighted to have expert speakers sharing their experiences about:

  • Young parent families
  • Gypsy Roma and Traveller families
  • Families with mothers in prison
  • Asylum-seeking families

By considering recommendations from recent research, reflections on best practice examples and powerful accounts from parents, we’ll think about how we can work together to improve experiences and dismantle barriers for these families in receiving equitable, high quality perinatal mental health care.

If you are passionate about improving the emotional health and wellbeing of all families, then book now and join us for what promises to be a dynamic and inspiring event!

Go to our conference website to find out more and see our fabulous ticket offers

Don’t miss our special early bird ticket rates, available until 19 July 2024 – book your place today! In addition, group bookings of 5 or more will receive a 15% discount off the total order when booked at the same time.

Bookings now open for iHV EBP Conference 2024

We are delighted to announce that we will be back in Manchester at King’s House Conference Centre on 3 July 2024 for this year’s iHV Evidence-based Practice (EBP) Conference ‘A Healthier Future’ – with options to join us in-person in Manchester, or online, to give you flexibility.

The focus of this year’s EBP conference is on addressing health inequalities, a topic that has never been more poignant, with more babies and children experiencing poorer outcomes and living in poverty than ever before. How can we ensure a healthier future, where all babies and children can thrive? How can we use the best available evidence and research to reduce health inequalities and strengthen health visiting practice?

Our conference will provide a platform for local, national, and international experts and speakers to come together and share excellence in health visiting practice, public health, innovation, and the latest research focused on improving outcomes and reducing inequalities for babies, children and families.

Speakers

We have a fabulous line up of speakers, including but not limited to:

  • Dr Allison Felker, Senior Researcher, MBRRACE-UK – who will share the findings from the MBRRACE-UK Report with a focus on inequalities in women’s health.
  • Dr Ngozi Edi-Osagie, National Clinical Director neonatal Critical Care, NHS England, Arnie Puntis,Research and Policy Manager, NHS Race and Health Observatory and speakers from the RHO Maternal and Neonatal Health Advisory Group (to be confirmed) – who will be presenting on tackling inequalities for babies, children and families with black and brown skin.
  • Professor Helen Bedford– who will share her expertise on the world of childhood vaccinations, highlighting the current measles surge and falling rates of MMR vaccine uptake.
  • Dr Erica Gadsby and Professor Sally Kendall– who will present their RREHOPE study – an evaluation of the impacts of the pandemic (and service work arounds) on health visiting.
  • Alison Morton,CEO, Institute of Health Visiting – speaking about radical health visiting and driving change.
  • Michele Lawrence,Head of Safeguarding, Chief Public Health Nurse Office, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities – who will be presenting about the new Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2023 Guidance.
  • Ana María Narváez, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, The Food Foundation –who will be sharing The Food Foundation’s annual flagship report, The Broken Plate, and sharing vital metrics revealing the health of our food system and its impact on our lives.
  • Sharin Baldwin, Senior Health Visitor Research Lead, iHV/MECSH, and Hilda Beauchamp,iHV Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Lead – who will be sharing the findings from the Alarm Distress BaBy Scale (ADBB) feasibility study.
  • Plus, more to be announced soon!

Our conference programme also includes a wide range of interesting topics and presentations drawn from the highest scoring submissions to our call for abstracts from researchers and leaders in practice. We will be adding their details to our programme soon, once final confirmation is received.

See our fabulous ticket offers!

Don’t miss our special early bird ticket rates, available until 19 April 2024 – book your place today! In addition, group bookings of 5 or more will receive a 15% discount off the total order when booked at the same time.

Find out more about our programme, speakers and how to book

Register your place today

Supporting children with SEND is a key priority for 2024 – iHV highlights vital role of HVs at APPG

It is great to see that supporting children with SEND is a key priority across government and the healthcare system in 2024. The year will get off to a flying start in parliament with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND) meeting on Tuesday 9 January.

We are delighted that Alison Morton, iHV’s CEO, has been asked to provide a keynote presentation on the vital role that health visitors play, supporting both parents and babies and young children during the earliest years of life.

The session is being hosted by cross-party MPs, Olivia Blake MP (chair) and vice chairs Sally-Ann Hart MP, Marsha De Cordova MP, James Sunderland MP, Andy McDonald MP, with secretariat provided by the National Association of Head Teachers. The APPG session will concentrate on the critical importance of early intervention in the context of SEND. This includes:

  • The significance of early identification of SEND.
  • Ensuring timely and appropriate support for those identified.
  • The barriers in place and proposed solutions.

Other speakers on the panel are: Claire Bithall – Parent of a 9-year-old autistic son; Allison Walker – SENCO at Lloyd Park Children’s Charity; Alex Dale and Phil Haslett – f40 Group; Beatrice Merrick – Chief Executive, Early Education; Cath Lowther – General Secretary, Association of Educational Psychologists; and Natalie Browne – 0-5 Team Manager Havering Council.

In 2024, the Institute of Health Visiting will be leading and engaging in a number of other programmes of work to improve the support for babies and young children with SEND and their families. This is an area that will demand increased attention from health visiting teams and we encourage all health visitors to keep abreast of the latest evidence and policies in this space.

iHV SEND conference

To support health visiting teams, we are hosting our very first iHV SEND conference on 14 March 2024 just outside London in Hertfordshire. The one-day conference will be jam-packed with updates from across a breadth of SEND priority areas and is available as an in-person or online delegate options.

Providing better joined-up support to improve the outcomes for children with SEND is a national priority and requires a multi-agency approach. Our SEND conference aims to equip health visitors and early years practitioners (and anyone looking to improve outcomes for babies and young children with SEND and their families) with new knowledge and skills to support better early identification of need and joined up support.

We have a fantastic line-up of high-profile national speakers including: Dame Rachel de Souza – The Children’s Commissioner for England; and Professor Simon Kenny OBE– national clinical director for children and young people and national cerebral palsy pathway group chair. With a breadth of experience, our speakers will present on the current national SEND priorities and encompass evidence-based practice and the latest research on a wide range of SEND topics from experts in their field, including experts with lived experience.

Our conference will also provide an excellent opportunity to network with multi-agency professionals and leading SEND experts from across the UK, as well as charities and exhibitors to support your work in this area.

Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to enhance your health visiting practice and make a difference to babies and children with SEND.

All our conference tickets are subsidised to keep ticket prices as low we can and ensure that as many people as possible can attend. Our early bird ticket sales are open – book at further discounted rates by 31 January 2024.

See here for more details and how to book

iHV Leadership conference 2023 recordings available

 

Last week, health visiting leaders, practitioners, policy makers and partners joined together in London for the Institute of Health Visiting’s annual Leadership conference. The event was held at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists/ Royal College of Midwives’ headquarters at 10 Union Street in London. Despite significant travel disruptions caused by the rail strike, 162 delegates were able to attend in-person, with a further 102 delegates registered online – with many saying that they wouldn’t miss it for the world! Thank you, we really value all your support.

The title of the conference was “Leading in a complex world” – if we have ever needed strong leaders, we need them now! With so much rapid change, it is even more important that we take time out to take stock, and learn, and reflect together. The aim of the iHV Leadership conference is for everyone to leave the conference feeling proud of the work that they do, valued, inspired, connected and energised with lots of new ideas to lead health visiting into the future.

iHV Leadership Conference 2023

The conference had a stellar line-up of national expert keynote speakers and panellists who skilfully covered an extensive breadth of topics including the impacts of child poverty, preconception care, preventative approaches to address the pressures on urgent care, health visiting research and education priorities (read the programme here). We were also delighted to be joined by Dame Ruth May DBE, the Chief Nursing Officer for England, who shared her new Vision for Nursing and Midwifery (including health visiting), hot off the press after it was launched at the CNO Summit a couple of weeks ago. Whilst this Vision is aimed at health visitors in England, a number of the priorities that the Vision is addressing will be similar priorities for all UK nations, with lots of transferable principles wherever health visitors are working.

Dame Ruth May DBE, CNO England, addressing iHV Leadership Conference 2023

In her keynote address, Dame Ruth said:

“I’ve been wanting to set out a Vision for nurses, midwives – and now health visitors – going forwards into the future… the Institute of Health Visiting has played a real part in that, wanting to make sure that health visiting, and school nursing, and public health nursing were definitely part of it.”

Dame Ruth went on to explain that it was “no accident” that “Prevention, protection promotion and reducing health inequalities” is the first priority area in her Vision. When the order of the priority areas were being decided, amongst 6 other competing important priorities, Ruth explained that it was important to highlight the “step change” needed to prioritise this area by putting it first. The remaining six ‘priority areas’ of Ruth’s Vision will also need to be translated into key actions for health visiting to ensure that they are achieved. The seven priority areas are:

  1. Prevention, protection, promotion and reducing health inequalities
  2. Protecting our planet
  3. Person-centred care
  4. Public and patient safety
  5. Professional leadership and integration.

With two additional enabling areas focused on:

  1. Professional culture
  2. People and workforce development.

Ruth called on health visitors to join with her in delivering this Vision, which would start with understanding the data on health visiting workforce and service delivery – Ruth made a plea for help with this. The keynote address concluded with Ruth reiterating her commitment to health visiting, her desire to work with practitioners and the iHV, and to use her voice with the government of the day, stating, “I look forward to working with you – I look forward to working for you – and look forward to you challenging me, making sure we make this a reality”.

Ruth’s keynote address was then followed by an interesting panel discussion which included reflections and comments from Dr Helen Duncan (National Lead for Lifecourse Intelligence, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities), Liz Fenton (Deputy Chief Nurse, Workforce, Training and Education Directorate, NHS England) and Nicky Brown (Senior Nurse/Public Health Specialist Babies, Children and Young People, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities).

iHV Leadership Conference 2023

Overall, the conference has received excellent feedback in the post-event evaluations received so far. There was an incredible buzz in the room as delegates connected with old friends and made new ones – there is something very special about meeting together as a health visiting community in London in the festive season.

The conference was recorded and all delegates will have received links to access all conference materials today that we have received permission to share to support further reflection and learning (if you have not received these, please do get in touch with [email protected] who can help).

Posts from #iHVLeadership2023

For those of you who could not either join us on the day or could not follow the #iHVLeadership2023 hashtag on X (formerly known as Twitter), we’ve collected and made a little “Wakelet” collection of the day’s posts so you can follow some of what was shared. Please see below.

 

Bookings now open for a brand-new national SEND conference!

We are delighted to announce the launch of a brand-new national SEND conference: ‘A Different Journey – The best life from the start’. This conference is being co-delivered by the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust on Thursday 14 March 2024 at Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage.

The SEND conference aims to equip health visitors and early years practitioners with new knowledge and skills to support babies and young children with SEND, with a focus on early support and early identification of need.

Our conference programme includes inspirational local and national guest speakers and will encompass a wide range of SEND topics from experts in their field including:

  • Overview of national picture and SEND policy
  • Improving seamless support through Integrated Care Systems and pathways
  • Reaching underserved communities with SEND
  • Enhancing communication
  • Understanding Cerebral Palsy
  • Supporting a child with a cleft palate
  • Understanding Down’s Syndrome
  • Neurodiversity in the early years
  • Safeguarding is everyone’s business

Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust previously hosted a SEND Health Conference in October 2022 which attracted national interest and requests for a national SEND conference. In collaboration with the iHV, and in response to demand, we are delighted to launch our first national SEND conference. This has been made possible through a partnership collaboration between the iHV and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust. Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust received excellent feedback from delegates stating that it was ‘unique’, and they left feeling ‘inspired’ and had ‘new knowledge and tools to improve their practice’!

Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to enhance your health visiting practice and make a difference to babies and children with SEND.

Our early bird ticket sales are now open – book at discounted rates by 31 January 2024.

Find out more about our programme, speakers and how to book

Exclusive Lads Like Us recording is now available to view!

We are delighted to share an exclusive recording of the ‘Lads Like Us’ keynote session at our recent Evidence-based Practice Conference: ‘Hope for the Future’, held in Manchester on 21 September.

‘Lads Like Us’ was set up by Mike Hurst and Danny Wolstencroft who both experienced trauma, including sexual abuse, as children. They now deliver highly acclaimed training all over the country to multi-agency professionals, considering the impact of childhood trauma on mental health, substance misuse, offending behaviour and parenting.

The recording includes a short presentation by Mike followed by a group discussion between Mike and his former health visitor, Louise (Lou) Hamer, who he credits as being the person who ‘turned his life around’. Lou is now the Designated nurse for safeguarding children at Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).

In his presentation, Mike speaks about how he was unexpectedly reunited with Lou when she attended their ‘Million Pieces’ training session as a delegate. During the training Mike shared the difference that his health visitor had made to him – and then Lou realised that he was speaking about her! Mike describes how Lou’s professional curiosity looked beyond the challenges he faced to understand the ‘why’ in his story and this was the catalyst for change.

Lou shared how much it has meant to her to be reunited with Mike – it has helped her make sense of her career, to see the difference that she had made – although in Lou’s words, she was only doing her job.

We hope that by sharing this story, every health visitor will take encouragement from knowing that they will have their own examples of people like ‘Mike’, whose lives they have impacted for good. However, only a few will have the privilege to meet up again like Mike and Lou.

The session was very impactful and is captured in this comment from one of our delegates:

“The parent voice session with Mike Hurst and Louise Harmer will stay with me for a long time. I will always ‘ask why’ from now on and think of them”.

Watch Mike and Lou’s session below (Advisory: this video contains adult/offensive language):

All iHV conferences set out to encourage and inspire. We are in the final stages of preparation for our annual Leadership Conference: ‘Leading in a complex world’ on 6 December in London and hope you can join us.

We always like to ‘do something different’ within the programme at our conferences to help us connect with the purpose of our work and think ‘outside the box’. At the Leadership conference, we are delighted to be able to showcase a short excerpt from a theatre production developed by the Champions Project to address the invisibility of children living in homeless accommodation. No spoilers – but this powerful production is breaking new ground in driving policy change using innovative approaches. It really is a ‘must see’.

We have a fantastic line up of high-profile speakers including but not limited to:

  • Dame Ruth May DBE – Chief Nursing Officer for England: A Nursing Strategy for Health Equity
  • Dr Camilla Kingdon – President RCPCH: Child health challenges: what are the solutions in a cost-of-living crisis?
  • Professor Bola Oluwabi – Director Health Inequalities NHS England: Tackling inequalities in child health
  • Toni Estevez – Lived Life Solutions Expert, Shelter: Temporary housing, poverty and health.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity for professional development and also connect with practitioners from across the UK.

Book your early bird tickets today! Available until 31 October.

See the full programme here.

For further details and ticket pricing

Book your place now

Book 5 or more group tickets to get a further 15% discount

For more details on Lads Like Us please see: https://www.ladslikeus.co.uk/ 

 

 

iHV EBP Conference 2023 – a fabulous event!

What an amazing and packed day we had yesterday at the iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference 2023: Hope for the future. We had a full house – with more than 300 people including delegates, exhibitors and speakers!

Held on Thursday 21 September 2023 at King’s House Conference Centre, Manchester, it was the must-attend event in 2023 for those interested in health equity and a brighter future, where all babies can thrive and live healthy lives. We looked to see how can we use the best available evidence and research to promote health equity and strengthen health visiting practice.

The conference showcased the very best of health visiting practice and research. From start to finish, the event was packed with examples of the difference that health visiting can make, led by practitioners with the vision to make the most of the opportunities, and navigate a path through the challenges, to a better future.

#iHVEBP2023

Long-standing health care disparities and inequities have been illuminated and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis. Systemic inequities, such as poverty and economic disadvantage are preventing babies, children, and families from achieving optimal health, leading to avoidable differences in health outcomes.

#iHVEBP2023

#iHVEBP2023

Our conference programme brought together local, national, and international experts and speakers who are focused on strengthening health visiting practice. Our speakers focused on how we can build on the present to help shape the future of health visiting and tackle inequalities and improve outcomes for babies, children and families.

#iHVEBP2023

With 4 concurrent sessions running during the morning and another 4 concurrent sessions in the afternoon, in addition to the morning and afternoon keynote sessions, there was plenty for the delegates to listen to and learn about.

See the conference programme

Some early comments and feedback:

Thanks for a great conference. My head was buzzing all night thinking of ways to introduce all the learning from yesterday.

All great – I have left conference feeling newly committed to make a difference.

Very impactful

Parent voice session with Mike Hurst and Louise Harmer will stay with me for a long time. I will always say Why? from now on and think of them.

Overall the whole day was jam packed and engaging with lots to take away and reflect on.

The whole day was inspirational and interesting.

We travelled a long way to the conference but it was worth every hour to talk to others from all over the country, share ideas and good practice and also know we are all in it together improving families lives.

Excellent day! Thank you

A brilliant day.

What a fantastic day.

Very informative conference – I will very definitely like to attend the next one.

Posts from #iHVEBP2023

For those of you who could not either join us on the day or could not follow the #iHVEBP2023 hashtag on X (formerly known as Twitter), we’ve collected and made a little “Wakelet” collection of the day’s posts so you can follow some of what was shared. Please see below.