iHV welcomes immunisation training standards for healthcare practitioners

iHV welcomes the National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Immunisation Training for Registered Healthcare Practitioners which have just been published.

The National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Immunisation Training for Registered Healthcare Practitioners sets the standards and lists the essential topics which should be incorporated into immunisation training for registered healthcare practitioners.

The aim of the national standards is to describe the training that should be given to all practitioners engaging in any aspect of immunisation so that they are able to confidently, competently and effectively promote and administer vaccinations.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director, iHV, said:

“iHV welcomes this new guidance from Public Health England on the training and standards required to support a high quality, safe and effective immunisation programme that achieves high uptake. It is important that HVs, who visit every baby and family, have a good knowledge of immunisation and are confident to advise parents. Comprehensive training and regular updates combined with supervision and support as laid out in the guidance will help support HVs to achieve this.”

Go to PHE - Immunisation training standards for healthcare practitioners

iHV launches new evidence-based leadership development programme

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is delighted to announce the launch of its new leadership development programme.

The programme, suitable for health visitors, school nurses, nurses, midwives and other health and social care professionals, aims to develop knowledge, skills and enhance confidence in clinical and public facing leadership.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director of the iHV, said:

“Our new leadership development programme has been informed by recent health visiting research, and is thoroughly tested and evidence-based. Originally developed for a health visiting and school nursing audience, evaluation of the programme as part of its rigorous testing also suggested it is suitable for other health and social care professionals wanting to develop their leadership skills.”

Delivered over a six-month period, the new programme includes: two days of initial training; followed by two further development half-days to develop a Community of Practice (CoP); and a final summative half-day Community of Practice meeting to review outcomes.

The initial two-day training event develops knowledge and skills in leadership in relation to the health visitor/school nurse/professional as a leader and on leadership in a team and organisation setting. It builds on leadership evidence and incorporates ongoing activities to ensure the programme is delivered within the context that practitioners work in.

Dr Adams continued:

“The programme aims to embed good practice, and promote and strengthen local leadership with integrated services across health and social care boundaries which, in turn, supports the opportunity for good health outcomes for children and families.”

For more information on new iHV evidence-based leadership development programme, please go to our training page or contact [email protected]

Download iHV Leadership Development Programme Flyer

Download updated iHV Training Portfolio

New iHV training and updated resources to assist Revalidation

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is pleased to announce a new training programme and an updated handbook designed to assist health visitors going through their Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revalidation.

It is now almost 18 months since the launch of NMC revalidation supporting the professional registration and license to practise as health visitors. It is estimated that almost half of registered health visitors are still to revalidate and may not yet have given much thought to the process. So, to support those health visitors still to undergo revalidation for the first time, the Institute has developed new training and updated resources to help them through the process.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:

“Revalidation is a welcome way to support and develop health visitors’ practise – thereby ensuring the standards of our profession. We collected feedback from our Fellows and iHV team members who have already undertaken revalidation, and developed a new workshop to help all health visitors with their revalidation requirements.

“Our popular ‘Route to Revalidation’ handbook has also been updated to keep it in line with NMC guidance. We hope these new resources will guide and inspire those who are to undergo revalidation.

“The workshops are relaxed and informal – the first one takes place on 9 October in London. This workshop will go through the process of revalidation and the paperwork required, and offer iHV tools and guidance specifically developed for health visitors working in all areas of practice, whether clinical, managerial, teaching or research. It will also provide the opportunity to share any concerns, check facts, and the chance to complete part of the requirements for revalidation whilst in a supportive environment.”

Institute’s Champions training receives national recognition in mental health awards

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is delighted to receive national recognition for its Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme in the first ever perinatal mental health awards, organised by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) and Mums and Babies in Mind (MABIM).

The iHV’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme was highly commended in the Emma Cadywould Award for Perinatal Mental Health Education and Training 2017. The awards, which were announced on Wednesday 13 September at the first Annual UK Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference at Imperial College, London, recognised best practice and achievement in the categories of perinatal mental health education and training, perinatal mental health awareness raising, peer support and transgenerational service.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:

“The Institute of Health Visiting is proud to receive this prestigious training award which was set up in the name of Emma Cadywould, who tragically lost her life whilst suffering severe postnatal depression.

“Our comprehensive, accredited training, which now reflects the national competencies for perinatal and infant mental health, has been developed over the past five years and consistently attracts wonderful evaluations.

“We have recently extended our training offers to be suitable for all professionals working with women with perinatal mental illness. This has been in response to many requests for multi-professional training from the health, local authority and voluntary sectors. Our current Champions Training ensures that all practitioners working alongside women and their families perinatally are equipped to provide evidence-based and confident support – as of June 2017, we have created over 140 Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions, as well as almost 900 health visitor Infant and Perinatal Mental Health Champions whose originally training we know has been cascaded to upwards of 10,000 others.

“This award is a massive credit to the Institute’s team who have worked so hard to develop, refine, deliver and quality assure, and most recently to benchmark our training to the new national standards.”

The winners were presented with their awards by acclaimed author, journalist and psychotherapist Susie Orbach.

Find out more about the iHV’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme

Read the full press release

New dates added for Healthy Weight Healthy Nutrition Champions training

Further to demand, we are delighted to announce new dates for the Healthy Weight Healthy Nutrition Champions training schedule:

12/13 Jan 2017 – Leeds
9/10 Feb 2017 – Antrim, Northern Ireland

For more details and how to book

Building upon existing knowledge, we explore why good nutrition matters across the lifespan, the significance of supporting women to eat well during pregnancy, as well as how HVs can influence and promote optimal and responsive infant feeding practices. You will also have the opportunity to examine more complex issues of allergies, fussy feeding, safeguarding and nutrition, the relationship with activity levels and overweight and obesity.

Our Champions programme equips participants to take on leadership / special interest roles as well as cascading Healthy Weight Healthy Nutrition training updates to colleagues within their organisation. This is a cost-effective method of ensuring the workforce has access to up-to-date evidence-based knowledge and skills to support practice in this important public health subject area and additionally represents an excellent development opportunity for health visitors.

New London date added for Healthy Weight Healthy Nutrition Champions training

Further to demand, we are delighted to announce a new London date for the Healthy Weight Healthy Nutrition Champions training schedule:

23/24 March 2017 – London

For more details and how to book

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions training in the South West – Call for Nominations

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is working with the South West Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Network, with funding from Health Education England in the South West, to deliver Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) Champions training across the region.

This training is consistent with the national ambition to achieve safer maternity care, with an emphasis on the importance of multi-disciplinary training for those who work with women during the perinatal period and the aim of achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health.

Nominations required for new Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions training in the South West

We are looking for organisations in the South West to nominate staff to train as Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions. Once trained, the Champions will cascade the training to other staff to help ensure safer care during the perinatal period by raising awareness and early identification of perinatal mental health issues and increasing the knowledge and skills of staff. The effectiveness of the cascaded training programme will be assessed by the iHV, which will in turn be shared with participating organisations.

Groups of multi-agency colleagues will attend a 2 day training course at one of the following locations:

Date	Venue
5 & 6 January 2017 – 09.00-17.00	Holiday Inn – Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2HJ
9 & 10 February 2017 – 09.00-17.00	Holiday Inn – Filton, Bristol, BS16 1QX
9 & 10 March 2017 – 09.00-17.00	Holiday Inn – Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2UA

The following groups of non-medical professionals are welcome to participate in this training:

Midwives
Maternity Care Assistants
A&E nurses
Pharmacists
Health visitors

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions are required to:

Attend a 2 day training course in January, February or March 2017
Attend follow up support for their development as a Champion in the form of face-to-face action learning sets led by the iHV (dates to be confirmed)
Deliver one day awareness training sessions within 6 months of their initial training to colleagues

Nomination is by submission of the Expression of Interest Form.

Please note that training places are limited, therefore we ask that you complete and return the Expression of Interest Form by Thursday 1 December 2016 to Kelle Dunn, South West Clinical Network Administrator, [email protected].

For more information, please see South West Strategic Clinical Network website

Or contact Kelle Dunn, South West Clinical Network Administrator, [email protected].

Funding for Maternity Safety Training

The Secretary of State has announced £8m funding available for Maternity Safety Training.

All Trusts are being encouraged to apply with a minimum of £40k to be allocated to every Trust. Bids will go to the nominated Regional Leads who are undertaking the shortlisting process; this will be followed by a panel review to determine the level of award to each Trust (this can be up to £80k).

The deadline to submit bids is 5pm Friday 18 November 2016.

Download the Application Form and Maternity Safety Training Catalogue

More Multi-agency Perinatal Mental Health Champions for London

London Perinatal Mental Health Network

We are thrilled to announce the continuation of our fantastic partnership working with the London Perinatal Mental Health Network.

Following on from our earlier pilot training programme for 22 champions during early 2015 in the London Boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey, this week sees the start of the roll-out of a further 68 Multi-agency Perinatal Mental Health Champions receiving training provided by the Institute of Health Visiting, with practitioners drawn from both maternity and multi-agency backgrounds.

Jo Maitland, London Perinatal Mental Health Network Coordinator, and her team have recruited over 40 new multi-agency participants and more than 20 participants from maternity backgrounds as Perinatal Champions for this new training commission.

Throughout October, we will be delivering three two-day training events of our newly-updated Multi-agency Perinatal Mental Health Champions training programme. The programme has been designed to equip champions to provide awareness training, cascading information in pairs to cohorts of multi-agency colleagues via a flexible onward-cascade of half and one day awareness training sessions as part of the network’s wider plan.

This will help ensure that all practitioners involved in the care of women during the perinatal period have the skills and knowledge to recognise, detect and support perinatal mental health problems, in recognition that multi-agency working is central to providing coordinated care during the perinatal period and is crucial to better outcomes for women and their families.

The London Perinatal Mental Health Network’s objective for their Champions mirrors the Institute of Health Visiting’s own aim in the development of the role, that Perinatal Mental Health Champions are:

ambassadors for perinatal mental health within their local area;
involved in developing integrated perinatal mental health care pathways;
act as a central resource to colleagues;
empower colleagues to raise parity of esteem for perinatal mental health;
and promote evidence-based practice at all levels.

The training has been funded by Health Education North Central East London (HENCEL), which covers 12 Boroughs.

For more information on our Perinatal Mental Health training programmes and options for bespoke training please contact: [email protected] or phone Philippa Bishop – iHV Training Programme Manager on: 07539 117775.

Exciting opportunity – further Infant Mental Health Champions training available!

Following a number of requests, we are thrilled to announce a further opportunity to train as an Infant Mental Health Champion with a leading expert in the field – Dr Angela Underdown. Underpinning the mental health and wellbeing of babies remains a huge public health priority and a key aspect of health visiting practice.

Our two-day Champions programme equips you to support colleagues to think about transitions to parenthood, building relationships (parental bonding, infant attachment and contingent responses to infant initiatives), infant observation and “baby states”, and using parallel process to model the principles of attunement.

Dates: Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 November 2016

Location: Stratford-upon-Avon

Fees (no VAT payable)

£275 for two-day course (early bird £250)
includes Trainer pack resources but excludes accommodation

Book before 30 September 2016 to take advantage of our early bird rate. Places are limited and on a first come, first served basis. Book now!!

Contact [email protected] to book your place.

Don’t take our word for it – see our feedback!

“Gives me the opportunity to help parents to better understand their baby’s needs and how to respond appropriately. Very useful.”

“This is an excellent course – really well planned and delivered using a variety of interesting, appropriate teaching methods. I feel it has extended my knowledge and provided relevant, practical ways of applying theory to practice. I am keen to share my learning with my colleagues, thank you.”

“Great opportunity to reflect on current practice and to learn new skills, knowledge and theories/ research.”

“The pack is excellent and I feel confident to use it for training immediately.”

For further details about the training

Contact [email protected] now to book your place.