0-19 Yorkshire and Humber Community of Research Practice wins prestigious NIHR award!

iHV is delighted to announce that the 0-19 Yorkshire and Humber Community of Research Practice (CRN) has won this year’s NIHR CRN Yorkshire and Humber Research Award for “Best Contribution in a non-NHS Setting”.

The iHV has been collaborating on this exciting project with the 0-19 Yorks and Humber CRN since 2020. The project aims to support and increase participation in research, as well as increasing research engagement and capacity. This project builds on the work of the 0-19 Yorks and Humber CRN, which was first established in 2013. With funding and support from NIHR CRN Yorkshire and Humber, the team has been able to develop 0-19 Research Champion roles alongside providing a programme of networking events to support new and aspiring researchers. The project is led by the inspirational Louise Wolstenholme who is the 0-19 Lead for Research (Education & Development) & Health Visitor at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and programme management support is provided by Victoria Jackson, Senior Programme Manager at the iHV. Other partners include the School And Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA), Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, and Leeds Beckett University.

This well-deserved award is a reflection of the hard work, commitment and expertise of all those involved in the project today, as well as those who were involved in establishing the CRN from the start.

If we are serious about improving the health of babies, children, young people and their families – and reducing ever widening health inequalities – we need to transform services using the best available evidence of ‘what works’. This requires more 0-19 research! The CRN is leading the way and inspiring new researchers to embark on exciting careers in research. As a lead partner, we are proud that the project has been recognised for its success in building research capacity in the 0-19 workforce.

Louise Wolstenholme responded to the award:

“Attending the CRN Awards ceremony and hearing that we had won the category for best research contribution in a Non-NHS setting was really exciting. All the project team have been very committed in ensuring the success of the 0-19 Research Network in Yorkshire and Humber and it feels exceptionally rewarding to be recognised in this way. Success would not have been possible without the valuable contributions from all the organisations involved, it really has been a joint venture. The trophy will be well travelled by the time it has visited all the partners across the region and wider! Importantly, we hope that this acknowledgement continues to place emphasis on the importance of researching the needs and informing care delivery for babies, children, young people and their families.”

See Tweet announcing the winner

In other news, the 0-19 Yorks and Humber CRN and project team has also been shortlisted for the Nursing Times Awards which takes place in the winter, so watch this space.

Huge congratulations to everyone involved – these achievements are fabulous recognition for all your hard work!

To find out more about the network and its work please visit the iHV webpage to learn more

Health visiting study seeks to learn lessons from pandemic

A new £265,000 study led by the University of Stirling is seeking to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected health visiting services across the UK, with a view to improving them in the future.

The 18-month project – funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) – will explore the changes that health visiting has experienced over the past two years and provide recommendations to enhance organisation and delivery as part of a strong post-pandemic recovery.

The project is led by Dr Erica Gadsby, a Senior Lecturer in Public Health from Stirling’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, and also involves researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Kent.

Alison Morton, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:

“Congratulations to the team, led by the University of Stirling, which has been awarded this prestigious NIHR funding.

“The last two years have been a period of tumultuous change, with health visiting services facing significant challenges in their efforts to support babies, young children and families. Health visitors responded rapidly with service innovations, but many of these adaptations have not been tested in the health visiting context and their impacts are largely unknown.

“This much-needed realist review will help us to gain a greater understanding of the pandemic response in order to learn lessons that can be applied to future emergencies, as well as strengthening the evidence base to support the embedding of new innovations and ways of working.”

The pandemic caused enormous pressure and disruption to child health services, as well as to families and young children, but it also prompted some important innovations in service delivery. The new study will explore how the pandemic affected health visiting services in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales, with a view to understanding how the organisation and delivery of services can be improved for a stronger post-pandemic recovery.

The researchers will undertake a ‘realist review’, which is a type of theory-driven review of evidence. They will pull together different forms of information related to what has happened in health visiting services since March 2020 and use that to explore how the pandemic has affected services, service providers and families.

The team includes realist review, health visiting and public health experts, as well as a patient and public involvement lead. A stakeholder group – comprising practitioners, commissioners, policymakers, policy advocates, and members of the public – will advise and provide feedback throughout the project.

The team will work closely with the Institute of Health Visiting and the stakeholder group to ensure the findings of the study are developed into a range of outputs suitable for the various stakeholders and disseminated to the appropriate audience.

Dr Gadsby is supported on the project, Realist Review: Health Visiting in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic Experience (RReHOPE), by Professor Kendall; Dr Geoff Wong and Ms Claire Duddy (both of the University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences); and Mrs Madeline Bell (expert by experience).

New NIHR PhD fellowships for those based in Local Authority settings

A new NIHR Fellowship opportunity for those based in Local Authorities, but this time offering fully funded PhD fellowships (modelled on the ICA Programme CDRF).

This pilot scheme has been designed to support the academic ambitions of individuals wishing to develop as health and/or social care researchers whilst remaining employed within, or at least salaried to support, local authorities or local authority supporting services.

With the exception of doctors and dentists, who can already access equivalent dedicated funding opportunities, these awards are available to individuals of any profession or background. Applicants must, however, be employed by:

a local authority
non-NHS provider of local authority commissioned services
a non-profit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or supports a local authority in meeting its objectives.

The scheme is now inviting applications which will close on 15 June.

For more information and how to apply

New NIHR fellowships for Local Authority and LA commissioned service staff

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) is currently developing some new fully-funded fellowship opportunities that it plans to make available from early next year. These new fellowships will only be available to individuals based within local authorities and LA commissioned services.

These two pilot schemes are being designed to support individuals based in local authorities or local authority commissioned services to develop as health and/or social care researchers.

Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Local Authority and LA Commissioned Service Based Individuals

The scheme will fund individuals of any profession to undertake Masters level academic training and prepare an application for a doctoral fellowship whilst retaining their existing employment and practice.

Indicative timescales

Application forms available: 28 January 2021
Deadline for application submission: 18 March 2021
Award uptake by successful applicants: from 1 September 2021

Find out more about Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Local Authority and LA Commissioned Service Based Individuals

Doctoral Fellowships for Local Authority and LA Commissioned Service Based Individuals

The scheme will fund individuals of any profession to obtain a PhD by research whilst concurrently developing their professional skills within their existing employment.

Indicative timescales

Application forms available: 1 March 2021
Deadline for application submission: Late April 2021
Award uptake by successful applicants: From 1 April 2022

Find out more about Doctoral Fellowships for Local Authority and LA Commissioned Service Based Individuals

Congratulations to Dr Baldwin!

We are delighted to share the news that Sharin Baldwin, one of our iHV Fellows, has completed her Clinical Doctoral Fellowship awarded by NIHR – and she is the only HV to receive this award!

Sharin, Clinical Academic Lead at London North West University Healthcare Trust, has also been awarded the NIHR Development and Skills Award, which she will be undertaking (part-time) at the Clinical Trials Unit at Warwick University from September 2020.

Well done Dr Sharin Baldwin! Many congratulations!

Sharin Baldwin RN, RHV, QN, FiHV, BSc (Hons), PG Dip, MSc, PhD

Health Visitor Research Champions

Great opportunity for iHV members interested in research

Are you passionate about research to support health visiting practice? An exciting opportunity has arisen for our members as part of research developments within the Institute of Health Visiting. We are working with the National Institute for Health Research to appoint a Health Visitor Research Champion within each Local Clinical Research Network (LCRN).

As a Champion you would be:

Working collaboratively with the iHV, NIHR, relevant research teams and other champions to support the development of portfolios of research
Working together to increase health visitor contribution to research studies
Supporting the development of a research-rich culture within the health visiting workforce
Contributing to a national forum of Champions including attendance at 3 National forum meetings a year
Contributing to national activities of the forum and health visiting including sharing of good practice and development of new ways of working
Supporting the creation of opportunities for more research careers in health visiting

We are looking for health visitors who have a masters, a doctorate or working towards one, and also some existing or prior direct involvement in research, as well as being a member of the iHV.

If you are interested, please go to the research section of our website for a more detailed role description and application form – please note that only iHV members can access the information sheet and application form.

Closing date: 22 June 2018 – please complete an application form and send it with a CV to: [email protected]

Date of first meeting for cohort 1: 10 or 18 July 2018 – TBC

A second cohort will be recruited in October if you can’t make the first set of dates.

HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Internships Scheme open for applications

The HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Internships Scheme across the North of England region is now open for applications for the 2018/19 cohort .

The scheme provides a range of both taught and academically supervised interventions that both engage and expose the intern to the clinical academic research environment and also provide them with the practical skills to undertake a research project supported by an expert clinical academic supervisor. The key components to the internship programme are:

a Clinical Academic Research Experience supported by supervision and research mentorship for 30 days.
an Educational Learning Package comprising of 4 days face to face learning and 4 days equivalent online distance learning.

By the end of the programme they hope that participants will have the confidence to apply their newly-learned skills within their employing Trusts, become research champions, and consider a future clinical academic career to include formally accredited education programmes, either within the HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme, or via other routes. Interns will also benefit from an enhanced ability to apply successfully for further formal research training.

It is a 3-stage application process as follows:

All applicants are required to submit an Expression of Interest before Friday 20 April 2018. These will be assessed against the eligibility criteria.
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be invited to submit a full application. The closing date for applications is Friday 4 May 2018. Applications will be shortlisted with the highest scoring applicants being invited to interview.
Interviews will be held on Monday 18 June 2018 in Sheffield, Tuesday 19 June 2018 in Newcastle, and Thursday 21 June 2018 in Manchester. Where possible, we will allocate you to an interview venue closest to your place of work.

For further details or to submit your Expression of Interest, see the website at www.shu.ac.uk/icainternships and follow on Twitter @ICAINorth

Parents of newborn babies not aware of consequences of screening

A team of University of Manchester researchers have found that changes are urgently needed in how parents are informed about newborn bloodspot screening to ensure they understand it and its consequences for them and their baby.

The research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, suggests changes could be made which would not only ensure parents are better informed, but which could be more cost-effective than current practice.

Newborn screening is seen as one of the top public health advances of the developed world.

A blood sample taken soon after birth enables nine serious conditions such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell to be diagnosed within the first weeks of life, meaning that treatment and care can start immediately.

However, the information that has to be presented before screening is complex – relating to nine rare but very serious conditions.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director iHV, commented on the research:

“This is very interesting research, but I can’t help but wonder whether it might have been helpful for the researchers to have considered the potential health visitor role in this as part of their antenatal visit. That contact is timely being close to the birth and it could become part of a package of important information such as the immunisation programme which is discussed by the health visitor.”

Read full Manchester University press release

NIHR Review: Better Beginnings Improving Health for Pregnancy

This review brings together recent evidence on improving health and wellbeing before, during, and after pregnancy from studies funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

It brings together research for factors that can be modified before, during and after pregnancy. the research covers smoking, healthy diet and weight, alcohol and drugs, mental health, violence against women, and supporting families using multifaceted approaches.

Better Beginnings is not a comprehensive review of all evidence on improving health for pregnancy which is a broad area of knowledge and practice. It focuses on building health for women to support pregnancy and the future health of their children.

This review complements other initiatives, drawing on best evidence, including guidance and quality standards from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Further sources of information and resources for each topic are signposted in this report.

Download NIHR Review: Better Beginnings Improving Health for Pregnancy