Maggie represents the iHV on the Lullaby Trust Scientific Advisory Group and is delighted to continue to work with the iHV as the Expert Advisor on infant and child sleep.

Maggie Fisher started her SRN training at The London Hospital in 1974 and worked and qualified as a district nurse.  Since then, she has worked as a health visitor/Specialist Community Public Health Nurse with 40 years’ experience working in different parts of London and the home counties, in a variety of generic and specialist roles. Her specialist areas of expertise are sleep, parenting, supporting couple relationships, and promoting perinatal and adult mental health. Sleep is an area that affects every aspect of physical and mental health, emotional wellbeing, parenting and relationships.

In the 1990s, Maggie set up and ran a successful sleep support service in Hampshire which ran for many years. Maggie then worked with Christine Bidmead to set up the Netmums parents sleep support information and support, and then Maggie did the same at Channel Mum. Since then, guiding and supporting exhausted parents to understand normal infant and child sleep patterns has been a lifelong passion. Whilst working with the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), this remit increased to sharing evidence-based practice with practitioners.

Maggie has also worked as an independent consultant and trainer working with a variety of national organisations and published various articles, a book and co-authored 2 other books and chapter in a book. For the last decade, Maggie has been working part-time with the iHV and is also a Fellow of the organisation.

At present, Maggie is working on a major international systematic review on infant sleep, working with researchers in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Maggie presented the emerging findings from this at the World Sleep Symposium in Rome, March 2022, and the iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference in September 2022. When the systematic review is completed and submitted for publication, the aim is to produce evidence-based guidance from the review for professionals and parents.

Dr Karen Whittaker, Education & Workforce Lead

Contact Karen – [email protected]

Vicky Gilroy, Director of Innovation and Research

NMC Registered Children’s Nurse, Health Visitor, Educator, FiHV, qualified school nurse

Responsible for:

• Leading on developing and managing projects
• Lead on evaluation
• Professional engagement
• Representative on the Obesity Health Alliance
• Healthy Weight and Healthy Nutrition Champions trainer
• Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions training
• Leadership training

Contact Vicky – [email protected]

At the launch of the iHV, 28 November 2012, Professor Viv Bennett received one of two Honorary Foundation iHV Fellowships awarded that day.

The Honorary Foundation Fellowship of the iHV was awarded to acknowledge the support given to the Institute during its development by Professor Bennett and also to acknowledge Professor Bennett’s unprecedented leadership of government policy to reinvigorate the health visiting profession.

At the launch of the iHV, 28 November 2012, Professor Richard Parish received one of two Honorary Foundation iHV Fellowships awarded that day.

The Honorary Foundation Fellowship of the iHV was awarded to acknowledge the support given to the Institute during its development by Professor Parish and also to acknowledge Professor Parish’s lifetime contribution to Public Health.

Dame Elizabeth Fradd received her honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Health Visiting at the iHV’s fourth annual celebration event held in London on 7 December 2016.  The award, in recognition of her encouragement to found the Institute and her continued support of both the iHV and the health visiting profession, mark the high esteem in which she is held by the Institute’s board.

Lord Victor Adebowale received his honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Health Visiting at the iHV’s fourth annual celebration event held in London on 7 December 2016.  The award, in recognition of his encouragement to found the Institute and his continued support of both the iHV and the health visiting profession, mark the high esteem in which he is held by the Institute’s board.

Philippa Bishop, Director of Learning and Development

BSc (Hons), RGN, RHV, PGCFHE, FiHV, Prince2 Practitioner

Responsible for:

• Management of training events provided by iHV
• Management of training commissioned by organisations for delivery by iHV
• Management of training provided by iHV as part of grant-funded programmes
• Representative on PHE Children’s Oral Health Improvement Programme Board (COHIPB) and interested in children’s oral health as a public health issue
• Representative on the joint National Bereavement Care Pathway Core Group and Training Sub Group
• Contributes Prince2 project management expertise to iHV project work

Contact Philippa – [email protected]

Martin Munro, Head of HR

Responsible for:

• Human resources management
• Lead on General Data Protection Regulations compliance
• Manage links with external agencies proving operational services
• Support operational projects, partnerships and bids
• Produce operations management and HR resources

Contact Martin – [email protected]