We are delighted to launch bookings for our annual iHV Leadership Conference ‘Change for the better: Leading towards a fairer and equitable future‘. This year’s flagship conference will be held on Wednesday 4 December 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, Holborn, London.

The vibrant iHV Leadership Conference has become the highlight of the year for many – bringing together health visitors, health visiting leaders, policymakers, academics and partners from all four nations of the UK, all united in a shared vision to drive meaningful change for babies, children, families and communities through excellence in health visiting.

Be inspired – connect – learn! Lead health visiting into the future…
This conference will provide delegates with an opportunity to explore leadership in action, using examples from practice, research and policy to achieve fair and equitable health provision for all. It also provides an invaluable opportunity to connect with colleagues and leaders from across the UK to share ideas and innovations, stimulate learning and make new connections. Delegates tell us that they leave feeling re-energised and better equipped to lead health visiting into the future.

We have a fantastic line up of high profile and inspirational speakers all focused on equipping us to lead change for the better – the programme is organised around four key themes:

Leading change, improving health equity: Health disparities persist across the UK, and the need for equitable healthcare has never been more pressing. Learn from leading experts in their field and discover actionable strategies that you can implement in your practice, with keynote speakers:

  • Professor Dame Lesley Regan – Women’s Health Ambassador for England and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
  • Professor Charlotte McArdle – Deputy Chief Nursing Office for England and author of “Nurses for Health Equity: Guidelines for Tackling the Social Determinants of Health”
  • Rosamund Adoo Kissi Debrah – Founder Ella Roberta Family Foundation

Leading health visiting policy across the UK: We are delighted to be joined by a 4-nations’ CNO panel discussing their strategies for health visiting in the UK, and the importance of leadership to strengthen prevention, population health and health equity:

  • Duncan Burton – Chief Nursing Officer | England
  • Karen Jewell – Chief Midwifery Officer | Wales
  • Anne Armstrong – Chief Nursing Officers Directorate | Scottish Government
  • Maria McIlgorm – Chief Nursing Officer | Northern Ireland

Leading through research and evidence-based practice: Engage with cutting-edge research that is shaping the future of health visiting. Keynote speakers include:

  • Dr Christine O’Farrelly – Senior Research Associate at PEDAL – Health visitor “Healthy Start Happy Start”
  • Hull Health Visiting team – Leading change through evidence-driven health visiting service model
  • Speaker TBC – The importance of health visiting research

Lead Change, Shape the Future: Focused on leading and equipping the health visiting workforce. Explore the tools, strategies, and mindset needed to lead with impact. Keynote speakers include:

  • Acosia Nyanin – Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England – Professional and System Leadership
  • Dr Karen Whittaker – iHV Education and Workforce Lead – Education project and maturity matrix
  • Amanda Holland – iHV Professional Services Lead – Preceptorship and workforce retention

Spaces are limited, and demand is high for this popular conference, so early booking is recommended.

Options:

Join us in-person in London:
More and more people are telling us how much they value the opportunity to meet together in-person. London in December offers a unique setting for our conference, with an air of celebration as lights adorn the streets, creating a festive atmosphere unlike any other. This special occasion not only provides an opportunity to engage with thought-provoking discussions and insightful sessions, but also to reconnect with colleagues and build lasting relationships.

Don’t just take our word for it – here is what previous conference delegates said:

“This was probably one of the most inspiring conferences I’ve been to. Such incredible work driven by passionate professionals. My head was buzzing of ideas after I left and still is”

“Wow – Very strong speakers. Wonderful how new innovative practices and policies are shared and to hear it so eloquently from a parent’s perspective too”

Unable to join in person – join online: Thanks to our partnership with Inclusive Digital, a leading digital production company with expertise in online conferences, we have refined the art of online conferences and offer a fabulous experience to online delegates:

“An opportunity to attend virtually was invaluable. I feel I have had the benefits of going – renewed motivation, reminder of why we do this etc – without the long journey and the expense of staying in accommodation”

“The online option is a great inclusion and I really appreciate the opportunity to join…thank you”

“It was an amazing day, even attending virtually I felt part of the room.”

Whether you join us in the heart of London or from the comfort of your home, you can expect a truly enriching and connected experience.

Extra discounts and concessions are available for iHV members, early booking and group bookings. Our Early Bird offer ends on 31 October 2024.

 

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

 

We need you! Are you:

  • An experienced SCPHN (minimum of 3 years)?
  • Passionate about leadership within SCPHN practice with experience in a specialist or clinical leadership role?
  • Willing to support one mentee at a given time for a minimum of 4 sessions?
  • Suitably supported by your employer to participate and provide mentorship for future leaders?

We are thrilled to see the exponential growth in interest for our iHV Leading Excellence in Practice leadership programme. We are delighted to see the next generation of aspiring SCPHNs stepping forward to become leaders for the profession and are loving the energy they are bringing with them.

Part of our Leading Excellence in Practice programme is the provision of mentorship to support the candidate on their leadership journey through the programme. We believe so many of you have so much to offer the profession in terms of gentle guidance based upon your own journey and your experience. Our mentors regularly share how much they gain from mentorship, and we also know that the candidates really value the mentorship they receive through the programme, in terms of the additional perspective it offers them.

The role of leadership mentors for this programme is:

  • As a ‘critical friend’, a mentor is able to offer guidance, support and form a positive one-to-one relationship with their mentees.
  • To provide encouragement and guidance using a range of approaches to support the mentees in their development as future leaders.
  • To create a supportive, challenging and reflective learning environment during the one-to-one sessions to help them focus on their strengths and areas for development.
  • To guide (but not direct) the mentee to support their personal development in line with the learning outcomes of the iHV Leading Excellence in Practice programme.

The commitment to the mentee in terms of time is:

  • Attendance at a virtual Mentor Briefing:  25 April 2023 – 3:00-4:30pm via Zoom (details to follow) – SAVE THE DATE!!
  • Provide mentorship meetings for one hour (x 4 virtual meetings) for one candidate in either of the following cohorts:
    • May 2023 (with mentor meetings in June, Sept, Nov & Dec)
    • June 2023 (with mentor meetings in July, Oct, Dec, Feb)
    • July 2023 (with mentor meetings in Sept, Nov, Jan, March)

How to apply:

If you would like to become an iHV Leadership Programme Mentor and meet the criteria at the top of this email, please complete the expression of interest form below by 3 April 2023:

Any Questions?

Please contact: [email protected]

We need you! Are you:

  • An iHV member?
  • An experienced SCPHN (minimum of 3 years)?
  • Passionate about leadership within SCPHN practice with experience in a specialist or clinical leadership role?
  • Willing to support one mentee at a given time for a minimum of 4 sessions?
  • Suitably supported by your employer to participate and provide mentorship for future leaders?

We are thrilled to see the exponential growth in interest for our iHV Leading Excellence in Practice leadership programme. We are delighted to see the next generation of aspiring SCPHNs stepping forward to become leaders for the profession and are loving the energy they are bringing with them.

Part of our Leading Excellence in Practice programme is the provision of mentorship to support the candidate on their leadership journey through the programme. We believe so many of you have so much to offer the profession in terms of gentle guidance based upon your own journey and your experience. Our mentors regularly share how much they gain from mentorship, and we also know that the candidates really value the mentorship they receive through the programme, in terms of the additional perspective it offers them.

The role of leadership mentors for this programme is:

  • As a ‘critical friend’ a mentor is able to offer guidance, support and form a positive one-to-one relationship with their mentees.
  • To provide encouragement and guidance using a range of approaches to support the mentees in their development as future leaders.
  • To create a supportive, challenging and reflective learning environment during the one-to-one sessions to help them focus on their strengths and areas for development.
  • To guide (but not direct) the mentee to support their personal development in line with the learning outcomes of the iHV leading excellence in practice programme.

The commitment to the mentee in terms of time is:

  • Attendance at a virtual Mentor Briefing:  25 April 2023 – 15:00-16:30 – via Zoom (details to follow) SAVE THE DATE!!
  • Provide 4 x virtually delivered mentorship meetings of one hour for one candidate in either of the following cohorts:
    • May 2023 (with mentor meetings in June, Sept, Nov & Dec)
    • July 2023 (with mentor meetings in Sept, Nov, Jan, March).

If you would like to become an iHV Leadership Programme Mentor and meet the criteria at the top of this email, please complete the expression of interest form below by 3 April 2023:

If you have any questions, please contact: [email protected]

Our CPD-accredited, iHV Leading Excellence in Practice programme, to support future SCPHN leaders, aims to ensure we have strong leadership for our profession into the future. We are seeking experienced practitioners to get involved and support this work by becoming iHV Leadership mentors.

Our current mentors enjoy great reciprocal relationships with our candidates and speak positively of the experience of working with their mentees from our programme, with many reporting they also gain much from the meetings.

Leadership mentoring provides future leaders with a forum for setting, discussing and dissecting a path to leadership with someone who has walked that path before.”

Benefits to health visitors in becoming iHV Leadership Mentors:

  • The opportunity to work with the Institute of Health Visiting and gain valuable skills in mentoring for leadership
  • Able to support colleagues’ leadership learning to help them develop their professional competence and confidence and equip them for SCPHN leadership into the future
  • Enjoy the privilege to act as a resource to facilitate personal and professional development of others, along with the responsibility of helping health visitor leaders translate theory into practice, making what is learned on their courses a reality
  • Benefit from two-way learning by working alongside practitioners with different perspectives and generations of SCPHNs which will provide an opportunity to enhance your own practice using this insight
  • Develop your leadership capability to help to shape the professions’ leadership of the future
  • A free place at the iHV annual leadership conference as thank you for your support

What being an iHV leadership mentor involves:

  • Attending a half-day online workshop about the iHV leadership mentor role
  • Providing a short bio on yourself to share with your mentee
  • Being allocated a mentee who is participating in the iHV Leading Excellence in Practice leadership programme
  • Provide 4 x virtually delivered mentorship meetings of one hour for one candidate

The role of the mentors for this programme is to:

  • Act as a ‘critical friend’ – a mentor is able to offer guidance, support and form a positive one-to-one relationship with their mentees
  • Provide encouragement and guidance using a range of approaches to support the mentees in their development as future leaders
  • Create a supportive, challenging and reflective learning environment during the one-to-one sessions, to help them focus on their strengths and areas for development
  • Guide (but not direct) the mentee to support their personal development in line with the learning outcomes of the iHV leading excellence in practice programme

Criteria to be an iHV Leadership Mentor:

  • To be an Associate Member of the iHV (or willing to become one before the role starts)
  • To be an experienced SCPHN (minimum of 3 years)
  • To be passionate about leadership within Specialist Community Public Health Nursing and experienced in a clinical or specialist role
  • To be able to attend the workshop on the 22 November 9.00 -13.00
  • To be able to support one mentee at a given time
  • To have agreement from your employer to participate and provide mentorship in the future

We have cohorts waiting for your mentorship! Bring your expertise and experience to our iHV Mentorship panel. We offer places at selected conferences and honorariums in recognition of the contributions made by our mentors.

  • Autumn cohort 2022 – first meeting with your mentee in November 2022 through to June 2023

Or

  • January, May, September 2023 cohorts – schedule for meetings with your mentee to be confirmed.

Apply now! We are waiting to hear from you. Please complete the form to express interest in joining our iHV Mentorship panel. Applications close 28 September 2022.

We will confirm your entry to our iHV Mentorship panel from 3 October 2022.

Don’t delay – buy your conference ticket today! Catch our early bird offer for our iHV Leadership Conference 2021 “Leadership for a fairer future”.

Our leadership conference sets out to equip health visitors and senior leaders to navigate new ways of working to address the nation’s pressing public health priorities. The conference will bring together leading experts from across the UK to help shape what ‘build back better’ can look like, whilst also learning from what is not working. We will explore the key ingredients of an effective infrastructure of support for families in the earliest years to make the UK a “happier and fairer place to live”.

Due to request, our early bird tickets have been extended until 5 November! In addition, if you join with colleagues you can get an even bigger discount with five tickets for the price of four (including early bird rates!)

  • Early bird tickets and are available for iHV members and non-members – iHV members will need their membership number to secure their member rate.
  • To book five tickets for the price of four, simply book 4 places and then use code 5for4Leadership2021 to get the fifth place for free – available against member and non-member rates including early bird.

Speakers

We are delighted that we will be joined this year by so many inspiring and prestigious speakers, including but not limited to:


Professor Toby Lowe – (Visiting Professor of Public Management – Centre for Public Impact). Toby’s presentation focuses on how we create positive outcomes for children with the assertion that “Outcome-based contracting turns everyone’s job into the production of good-looking data, not meeting client need”. Are you fed up with process KPI’s measuring the wrong things? How do we build infrastructures that deliver the outcomes that we want? Where does health visiting fit into new ways of working?


Professor Alison Leary – (Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling, LSBU). How do we get our skill mix teams right? Alison is the leading national expert in healthcare workforce modelling and her presentation will demonstrate the value of specialist nurses and how “A safety-critical workforce is more than warm bodies and pairs of hands”.


Dame Andrea Leadsom MP – We are delighted to have Andrea join with us to share the latest update and take questions on the Government’s ‘Start for Life’ plans and vision for the 1001 Critical Days.


Dr Bola Owolabi (Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement and GP) – How can we be serious about inclusion and reducing health inequalities? Bola will explore opportunities for reducing health inequalities through Integrated Care Models, Service Transformation and using data & insights for Quality Improvement.


Leanne Howlett (parent expert by experience) Listening to parents to improve outcomes – Leanne will share her lived experience of perinatal mental illness and how she has used her own experience to drive positive change and influence national policymakers to invest in person-centred support for women and improve health visiting practice.


Please show your support for the iHV: The iHV is a small charity, established by health visitors for health visitors. We rely on your support through our conferences to sustain our work to influence national policy and improve health visiting practice – our ultimate goal is to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for all babies, children, and families.

To find out more about our iHV Leadership Conference 2021, click here

To book your ticket, click here

If you are an iHV member, ensure you have your membership number ready to use as a discount code to secure your member discount. If you are an iHV member but you do not know your membership number, please email [email protected]

For any other details on how to purchase a ticket individually or for a group booking, please email [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to welcoming you on Wednesday 1 December.

 

Wow, what a day at #iHVLeadership2020 on Tuesday 1 December!

Following the success of our first virtual conference in September this year, we continued our plans for our annual leadership conference “Leading with vision: Be brave, stay safe, have hope!” and moved the event online.

With over 400 delegates, this was our largest leadership conference ever! And we were delighted to have a number of very eminent speakers to share their updates, insights and innovations.

2020 has been a challenging year for health visitors as it has for everyone, but we wanted to mark the foundation of the iHV again with our annual morale-raising leadership conference. The important event provided the opportunity at the end of the year to refresh, reflect and discuss new thinking for the year ahead.

We are receiving some amazing feedback:

“The virtual conference felt quite seamless, a varied amount of speakers with different expertise and a good opportunity to ask any questions”

“#iHVLeadership2020 really showing how to deliver a virtual conference with passion, drive and determination. I will forever consider the service as being the glue😊 @andrealeadsom”

“Fabulous virtual event – well done”

“I thought it was well presented and executed”

“Good opportunity to be part of a large event with high profile speakers during a difficult time.”

“Fabulous to have @andrealeadsom speaking about Early Years Healthy Development Review- Investing early has the greatest impact- “we need to stop the current ‘Wild west’”- Prevention is not just kinder, but it’s an awful lot cheaper than cure #iHVLeadership2020”

“enjoying my first iHV Leadership Conference 2020..fantastic info so far on recognition and early intervention of SMA and the important role of health visitors, household name and hv hero up next @MichaelMarmot  @VivJBennett @iHealthVisiting”

“Great listening to  @VivJBennett   lessons learnt re- covid and redeployment. Need for other professionals to have awareness of how skilled Health visitors are. Fantastic viv! #iHVLeadership2020  #healthvisitor #healthychildprogramme”

“@CheryllMa closes a fantastic #iHVLeadership2020 with an address that shares some wonderful snippets from a long and very successful health visiting career and leaves us with wise words…‘health visitors can save the world!’ @iHealthVisiting👏🏼”

“So many takeaways from today’s fabulous #iHV conference. Lots and lots to share, hard to know where to begin so starting with health and well-being of staff😊”

Conference recordings and presentations

Recordings from the day’s proceedings and presentation pdfs are now available for conference delegates – via our conference website.

To access the conference recordings webpage, please log in using your email address (as used to attend the conference) and your personal conference reference number (the same number you used to join the online conference).

If you didn’t manage to grab a ticket to join us at the event, don’t worry! You can purchase access to listen to and watch all the speakers via our online conference platform – just purchase your pay to view online ticket to access all the recordings.


Social media

Have a quick spin through all the tweets collated from day in the Wakelet link below – so much to see! So, don’t miss out

We’re thrilled to announce that our annual Leadership Conference “Leading with vision: Be bold, stay brave, have hope!” will be held as a virtual conference – and bookings are now open!

Our virtual Leadership conference 2020 (#iHVLeadership2020) will be taking place online on: Tuesday 1 December – 09:00 – 14:00.

2020 has been a challenging year for health visitors as it has for everyone, but we want to mark the foundation of the iHV again with our annual morale-raising leadership conference.

This important event provides the opportunity at the end of the year to refresh, reflect and discuss new thinking for the year ahead. This year we are thrilled to have a number of very eminent speakers lined up to address our delegates, also the voices of parents and practice to share recent innovations.

The networking sessions during our September conference were especially popular so we are making them available again. There is even the opportunity to undertake some exercise during the break with our 5 minute Conference Zumba sessions!

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director, The Institute of Health Equity (UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health)
  • Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP, Chair of the Government’s ‘Early Years Healthy Development Review’
  • Professor Philip Wilson Director, Centre for Rural Health
  • Professor Viv Bennett, Chief Nurse and Director Maternity and Early Years, Public Health England
  • Elizabeth Begley, Senior Nurse, Health Visiting and Early Years, Homerton Health Visiting Service
  • Dr Sharin Baldwin, Clinical Research Fellow and Clinical Academic Lead, Warwick Clinical Trials Unit and London North West NHS Healthcare Trust
  • Vicky Gilroy, Projects and Evaluation lead, Institute of Health Visiting
  • Cheryll Adams Executive Director, Institute of Health Visiting

Pricing and How to Book

We are delighted to offer special earlybird rates – and even better rates for our Members and Fellow Members (available until Friday 6 November) plus our great 4 for 3 offer (buy 3 places and get the 4th place for free!):

Take advantage of our earlybird delegate rates – just book your place before 6 November 2020.

To access the special earlybird rate for our members, please join us today and ensure that you have your membership number ready to use as your member discount code to secure your reduced delegate rate.

To take advantage of the 4 for 3* offer (available for member, non-member and earlybird rates. Not available for student rate), book 3 and use code 4for3leadership2020 to get 4th place for free
*can be used for member, non-member and earlybird rates. Not available for student rate

 

Outgoing CEO says: “Government must invest in rebuilding health visiting profession.”

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is preparing to welcome a new Executive Director. Eight years after launching the charity and academic body, iHV’s current Executive Director, Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, will step back in January 2021.

Stepping into her role is the Institute’s current Director of Policy and Quality, Alison Morton, who will become Acting Executive Director until the post is advertised during 2021. Dr Adams will remain with the iHV working part time, taking the title of Founding Director. Until the end of March 2021, Dr Adams will support Ms Morton’s transition into the role, and will continue to support the Institute with project work thereafter.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, outgoing Executive Director of iHV

In stepping back, Dr Adams had a strong message about her ongoing hopes for the profession, saying:

“My outstanding hope is that the government will take urgent action to rebuild this amazing profession in England. There are 30% less health visitors working in England today than there were five years ago, unlike in the rest of the UK where the profession is being strengthened. New investment is desperately needed to reverse this.”

She added:

“Health visitors work quietly and professionally with families to provide a safety net for all babies and pre-school children. They turn children’s lives around, providing them with brighter futures and, in so doing, help to reduce the impact of health inequalities for all of us.”

The iHV was launched in 2012 to strengthen the services which health visitors provide to parents, and for supporting health visitors in their challenging role on the frontline of preventative healthcare.

Over the last eight years, the Institute has enjoyed many successes, including developing a portfolio of highly-respected award-winning training programmes, regular conferences, and many new products and publications supporting the profession and practice development. Particular strengths have been its work programmes around perinatal and infant mental health, language development and nutrition. The iHV’s reach is now both UK-wide and global and it has a wide range of effective partnerships with others in the sector. Entirely self-funded since day one, the Institute has become a respected and valued voice nationally for health visiting, as well as for babies and young families.

Dr Adams, who founded the Institute, was awarded a CBE in 2016 for her services to health visiting. In announcing the iHV’s upcoming leadership change, she said:

“It is important to know when to step back and this is the time. I have spent 10 years setting up, launching and running the Institute and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved so far. My team is strong and successful, and the Institute has become the go-to academic body for health visiting. I have total faith that the Institute has a bright future.”

Pamela Goldberg OBE, Chair of Trustees at the iHV, said of the organisation’s new Acting Executive Director:

“I have complete confidence in Alison to take the Institute into its next phase of development and, with Cheryll, look forward to supporting her transition into this new role. “

Dr Adams added:

“In the time she has been with us, Alison has more than proved her commitment and passion to the health visiting profession – an essential trait for the organisation’s next leader. Alison has real vision, talent and energy and I will enjoy watching that being translated into action.”

Alison Morton, Acting Executive Director, iHV

In conclusion, Dr Adams said:

“The Institute is now a well-established entity with a strong vision at its core. This has only been strengthened by the impacts of COVID-19, which has required us to adopt new ways of working in order to continue our activities and serve the profession and families during this challenging period.

“The impact of COVID-19 on young families has been immense. It has also shone a light on just how essential the health visiting service is – now more than ever! The government cannot afford to ignore this any longer. There is too much at stake. It is time to act and to invest in rebuilding this vital profession once more.”

We had an incredibly inspiring and motivating day at iHV’s annual Leadership Conference yesterday!

iHV’s Leadership for the future Conference (#iHVLeadership19), held on 3 December 2019 in London, was a fantastic opportunity for health professionals across the country to find out the latest in leadership in health visiting practice among like-minded professionals and peers, as well as finding out the latest on our evidence-based blue print to rebuild health visiting services – ‘Health Visiting in England: A Vision for the Future’.

Tickets were sold out and we had a full house of 200 who listened to our inspirational and passionate speakers:

  • Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Professor of Advocacy for Children and Childhood, at Nottingham Trent University and former First Children’s Commissioner for England
  • Professor Dame Sue Hill DBE, Chief Scientific Officer NHS England, national lead for Genomics
  • LEGO Professor of Play, Dr Paul Ramchandani
  • Professor Jim McManus, Vice President, Association of Directors of Public Health
  • Pauline Beirne, National Lead AHP CYP, Scottish Government
  • Sally Hogg, Head of Policy and Campaigning, Parent-Infant Foundation
  • Angie Emrys-Jones, a mum with loved experience
  • Caroline Palmer, ChatHealth
  • Julie Carter-Lindsay, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Alison Morton, Director of Policy and Quality, iHV

In addition, our Guest speaker of our annual lecture was:

  • Professor Mitch Blair, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Public Health, Imperial College London.

A big thank you to all our speakers, presenters and exhibitors for helping to make the day.

Some of the amazing feedback we have already received:

“Thank you iHV for the fantastic Leadership Conference yesterday. Inspirational speakers who delivered with humility. I am ready for the disruption”

“So much to share & debate. Reflecting this morning on inspiring colleagues, conversations and opportunities to take forward. Thank you”

“Thank you @iHealthVisiting for hosting such an inspiring and invigorating iHV Leadership Conference.”

“Fantastic time out for reflection and updates from great speakers”

“En route home after the BEST day at @iHealthVisiting leadership conference. I don’t need a title to be a leader. Just the willingness to be disruptive and to ‘bang the bloody door down’ of anyone who isn’t willing to listen!!”

“Such a fab day. So much to think about. Thank you @Alison_Morton2 @CheryllMa and the team behind today’s #iHVLeadership19 conference in #London. Won’t lie, head is full but so much passion for the HV service is out there, we need to make sure we keep shouting about the work we do”

“Thank you @iHealthVisiting empowering day #iHVLeadership19 hearing inspirational speakers & opportunity to network.”

Photos

We have made a short video of some of the photos taken yesterday:

Tweets from #iHVLeadership19

For those of you who could not either join us yesterday or could not follow the #iHVLeadership19 hashtag on Twitter, we’ve collected and made a little “Wakelet” collection of the day’s tweets so you can follow some of what was shared. Please see below.