Tags: expert adviser

Opportunity to join our team as an iHV Expert Adviser for Safeguarding

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is seeking the right person to join our team as an Expert Adviser for Safeguarding – a unique voluntary opportunity to shape national health visiting practice, influence public health policy, and improve outcomes for babies, children, and families across the UK. 

Our team of iHV Expert Advisers play a critical role in: 

  • Representing the experiences and challenges faced by health visitors across the UK. 
  • Providing expert guidance and insight to the iHV’s work. 
  • Supporting the development of evidence-based practice, policy, and guidance. 

All our iHV Expert Adviser positions are voluntary roles, and there are many personal and professional benefits to the role: 

  • Work with the UK’s leading professional body for health visiting: with opportunities to contribute to the iHV mission and expand your professional network.  
  • Shape iHV policy and influencing national policy: engage in national forums as a representative of the iHV and help to guide decisions using your expertise. 
  • Professional development: Expert Advisers work closely with iHV staff, Senior Leadership team and external stakeholders, offering valuable experience, shared expertise and support to enhance your development, impact and visibility.  
  • Recognition and professional credibility: you will be publicly recognised as an “iHV Expert Adviser” and may be featured in blogs, news updates and iHV media work, highlighting your contributions to health visiting and public health. 
  • Collaborating with other leading experts from across the UK: utilise opportunities to network and share best practice, evidence and research. 

What are the eligibility criteria?   

  • You are a member of the iHV based in the UK. 
  • You are a health visitor with relevant preventative public health and topic-specific expertise – you are recognised as a leader in your field of expertise. 
  • We are particularly keen to receive applications from people from all sections of the community, including people with protected characteristics.  
Please see the Terms of Reference for person specification criteria

How to Apply 

Download the iHV Expert Adviser expression of interest form

Download the Terms of Reference

iHV Expert Adviser for Scotland Health Visiting Policy is appointed

In response to our growing policy portfolio at the iHV and the need to strengthen our policy presence across Scotland, we are delighted to announce that Christopher Sweeney has been appointed as iHV Expert Adviser for Scotland Health Visiting Policy.

Christopher Sweeney, iHV Expert Adviser for Scotland Health Visiting Policy

Christopher will bring his expertise and knowledge of Scottish policy relating to babies, children and families and health visiting practice to the iHV. He will be supporting iHV engagement within Scottish networks to strengthen our involvement in national workstreams which relate to improving outcomes for babies, children and families, and creating excellence in health visiting.

The iHV has a committed and highly regarded team, with professional expertise in numerous public health priority topics for babies, young children, and families. We work with leading experts, practitioners, parents, and carers through our advisory forums, networking events, surveys, and co-production groups. Our growing network of voluntary Expert Advisers ensures our members’ perspectives shape our work, keeping the iHV’s decisions and policy positions grounded in practice and evidence.

Christopher joins this growing network of iHV Expert Advisers, bringing a wealth of experience to the role. He is a Health Visitor and Clinical academic fellow and has previously worked as a Practice Development Nurse and Health Visitor in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Nurse Activity Manager with Médecins Sans Frontières in South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia.

Christopher completed his master’s research titled ‘Exploring Glasgow parents’ views of the Equal Protection from Assault (Scotland) Bill’ and he is now in the final stages of his PhD where he is exploring how new parents respond to childhood illness and make decisions to use urgent care services.

Christopher is also one of our Scottish iHV Health Visiting Advisory Forum (HVAF) members and he has been supporting our work, including iHV Practice Education and Research workstreams.

Below is a picture of Christopher in action when he attended Parliament during this Summer with Alison Morton, iHV CEO. Alison was giving oral evidence to First 1000 Days Inquiry and invited Christopher and Amanda Hall (another HVAF member) to join her in Parliament.

We are looking forward to working with Christopher and strengthening our engagement and involvement across our Scottish national workstreams and our mission to create excellence in health visiting.

Opportunity to join our expanding team as an iHV Expert Adviser

We are delighted to announce that we are looking to expand our team of iHV Expert Advisers, with a focus on two important areas of health visiting practice: safeguarding; and infant feeding. As an iHV Expert Adviser, you will use your expertise and be at the forefront of shaping the future of health visiting practice, supporting every baby, child and family to have the best possible start in life.

These appointments will join our growing team of iHV Expert Advisers who play a critical part in representing our health visiting member experiences and providing expert guidance and constructive challenge. This ensures that the iHV’s decisions and policy positions are rooted in current practice and evidence. The iHV Expert Adviser role is instrumental in addressing the increasing complexities faced by families and the health visiting workforce.

Kirsty Jacques, iHV Expert Adviser: SEND, commented:

“For me, being the iHV SEND Expert Advisor is pure pride — a chance to pour my passion into something bigger than myself. It brings joy knowing the work I do can grow from local ideas to national change, lifting up families, children, and the colleagues who stand beside them”

All our iHV Expert Adviser positions are voluntary roles, and there are many personal and professional benefits to the role:

  • Work with the UK’s leading professional body for health visiting: With opportunities to contribute to the iHV mission and expand your professional network.
  • Shape iHV policy and influencing national policy: engage in national forums as a representative of the iHV and helping to guide decisions using your expertise.
  • Professional development: Expert Advisers work closely with iHV staff, Senior Leadership team and external stakeholders, offering valuable experience, shared expertise and support to enhance your development, impact and visibility.
  • Recognition and professional credibility: You will be publicly recognised as an “iHV Expert Adviser” and may be featured in blogs, news updates and iHV media work, highlighting your contributions to health visiting and public health.
  • Collaborating with other leading experts from across the UK: utilise opportunities to network and share best practice, evidence and research.

What does an iHV Expert Adviser role involve?

The role of iHV Expert Adviser (using their area of expertise) offers a unique opportunity to influence public health policy and practice at a national level. Advisers collaborate with a network of professionals and contribute to initiatives that directly impact the wellbeing of babies, children, and families. Please see the Terms of Reference (TOR) links below for more information.

What are the eligibility criteria? 

  • You are a member of the iHV whose mailing address is in the UK.
  • You are a health visitor with relevant preventative public health and topic-specific expertise – you will be recognised as a leader in your field of expertise.
  • We are particularly keen to receive applications from people from all sections of the community, including people with protected characteristics.

See Terms of Reference (TOR) for person specification criteria:

  • Click here to view the TOR for the Safeguarding Expert Adviser role
  • Click here to view the TOR for the Infant Feeding Expert Adviser role

How to Apply

Download the iHV Expert Adviser expression of interest form

Download the TOR for the Safeguarding Expert Adviser role

Download the TOR for the Infant Feeding Expert Adviser role

iHV seeks Expert Adviser for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Opportunity to join our expanding team as an Expert Adviser for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

The Institute of Health Visiting is fully committed to the active promotion of equality and diversity in everything that we do. We recognise, both as an employer and as an organisation, that we have much more to do to ensure that the values of equality, diversity and inclusion are reflected and reinforced in everything we do and at every level in our organisation. Alongside the work that we are already leading in this area to support inclusive practice, we are seeking to strengthen our response by recruiting to a new position of iHV Expert Adviser in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This appointment will join our growing team of iHV Expert Advisers who play a critical part in ensuring that the perspectives of our members are represented by providing expert guidance and constructive challenge to ensure that the iHV’s decisions and policy positions are rooted in current practice and evidence.

Help us achieve our ambitions: We want to enable a compassionate and inclusive organisational culture that values diversity and demonstrates due regards to the characteristics of the Equality Act (2010) through our employment practices, the work that we do, and the products and resources that we produce. We are committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our staff and eliminating unlawful discrimination.

Our equality and diversity strategy for improvement focuses on 3 overarching objectives:

  • Understanding and working with diverse communities
  • Accessible services and products
  • Leadership and organisational commitment to equality and diversity

All our Expert Adviser positions are voluntary roles, however there are many benefits of being an iHV expert adviser:

  • Opportunity to work with the UK’s leading health visiting professional body.
  • Opportunity to shape iHV policy and, through engagement in national forums as a representative of the iHV, influence national policy.
  • Being recognised as an iHV ‘Expert Adviser’ – you can use this title and will be included as part of our iHV Expert Adviser team on the iHV website.
  • iHV CEO and senior management team’s support of the role.
  • Opportunity to work alongside other experts from across the UK.
  • iHV will cover expenses related to this role in line with iHV Expenses policy.
Read the Expert Adviser EDI Terms of Reference to find out more

Download the Expert Adviser Expression of Interest Form

Closing date for expressions of interest to be submitted is 5pm on 7 July 2023.

Find out more about our iHV Expert Advisers here.