Nursing and Health Visiting
Vicki Finlay
Chief Nursing Officer’s Professional Leadership Team
Department of Health
Nursing in a Changing World
•Demographic change – age and expectations of population
•Age and expectations of current and future workforce
•Technological change
•Lifestyle changes and impact on health
•Worst global recession since 1930’s
What’s happening in healthcare?
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Greater co-production, with people taking greater ownership of their
health;
Early and more upstream intervention –prevention is better than
cure;
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More care closer to home;
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Focus on quality and productivity;
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A workforce that can provide ‘care without walls’
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Many of these changes involve new and extended roles for nurses
and midwives and research and evidenced based practice are key;
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Research will need to draw on social science and psychological
approaches as well as biomedical.
White Paper:
‘Equity and Excellence Liberating the NHS’
A patient-led NHS – ensuring it responds to people’s needs and their wishes
when it comes to managing their own care, giving people information and
choice
Shifting focus and resources towards better health outcomes –making them
amongst the best in the world
Empowering professionals throughout the NHS – giving them more power and
responsibilities, replacing the top-down approach from central government.
Improving our public health services –working with partners on prevention
Reforming long-term care – improving accessibility of, and options for, longterm social care by focusing on prevention, personalisation and partnership
delivery.
Nursing Practice Today
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Clinicians
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Leaders and Managers
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Researchers
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Educators
http://nursingcareers.nhsemployers.org/
Who are we trying to recruit?

New people and those wishing to
return to practice
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Compassionate, caring,
individuals with a flair for building
and sustaining effective
relationships
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Intelligent, critical thinkers who
are able to assume the
responsibility of being an
accountable professional

A diverse workforce that
represents the communities it
serves
A Profession Adapting….
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Letting go of the past
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Understanding the present
reality
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Preserving what is
important
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Positioning for the future
Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Revised
Standards for Education and Practise

Designed to build a safe and effective
workforce that are able to rise to the
challenges of 21st Century Health service

Retains the 4 fields of nursing
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Adult
Child
Mental Health
Learning Disabilities
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Programmes 4,600 hours and or 3 years
(full or part time)
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50% theory and 50% practice
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Up to 50% prior experience or learning can
be accredited against the programme
(APL)
The new vision for health visiting
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We are building a revitalised health visiting service based around a
new offer for families
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At the centre of the family offer is a universal service for all, provided
by health visitors
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Health visitors will have a central role in providing evidence-based
health interventions to families
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An additional 4200 health visitors will be in post by 2015
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Why are we doing this?
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Research shows that good advice, support and healthcare in the first few
years of life leads to better health and development in future years, which is
why it is important to provide the HCP as part of a universal service to all
families;
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HCP is evidence based, and the interventions that Health Visitors will
provide as part of it - such as vaccines and immunisation - help to improve
public health, as well as having obvious benefits for the individual too;
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Through universal plus and universal partnership plus, families will get
access to specialist help and support to deal with health issues like speech
or hearing difficulties before they become more serious .
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Wider early years context
Independent reviews conducted by Graham Allen, Frank Field and
Dame Clare Tickell have all highlighted just how important pregnancy
and the first five years of a child’s life are in providing children with the
foundations they need to thrive and succeed in life. Evidence suggests
there are five critical factors in the foundation years:
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Children’s health in early life
Good maternal mental health
Quality of parenting and parent-child relationships
Learning activities
High-quality early education
The work of health visiting teams is part of a larger effort to help families
in the first few years of life, and the government is committed to
increasing help and support for families.
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The new health visiting offer to families
The new service will offer 4 levels of help and support to families. They are:
Your community: a range of services available locally - including Sure Start service, that
health visitors work to develop, and publicise to families
Universal services: the health visitor and their team provide the Healthy Child
programme to all families, ensuring a healthy start for babies, support for parents and
access to a range of community services and resources
Universal plus: The health visiting team will provide a rapid response when specific
expert help is needed - for example with postnatal depression, a sleepless baby,
weaning or answering any concerns about parenting
Universal partnership plus: The health visiting team will provide ongoing support, and
work with a range of local services to deal with more complex issues over a period of
time. These include services from Sure Start children’s centres, other community
services including charities and, where appropriate, the Family Nurse Partnership
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What will success look like ?
An extra 4200 health visitors will be in work by 2015, and be spread across communities in
proportion to local need
All families have access to a full range of services from universal to support for vulnerable
families and to care for children with illness/disability at home and in their communities
Evidence based services and practice are provided by committed, knowledgeable and confident
professionals
Any needs or problems are identified early and the right service response provided
Strong partnerships are built and sustained both between local organisations and with families
using services
Health Visitors are proud of the profession and recommend it
Local leaders feel empowered to make changes
Families receive joined up services to meet their needs and choices and express high levels of
satisfaction
Children are ‘ready for school’
Local health outcomes improve and inequalities reduce
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Opportunities for nurses and health visitors
• Range of employers NHS, Independent Sector, Voluntary Agencies,
Charities, Local Authorities, Retail, Legal services, Government,
Education sector, research industries, consultancy ……….
• UK Nurses and HVs are widely recognised as amongst the best in the
world and their skills are in demand worldwide
• Continuous professional development and infrastructure for career
support
• Fair pay - average salary of a newly qualified nurse at the start of their
careers is £21k moving up to £100k plus for those in very senior roles
• Opportunities for Innovators and Entrepreneurs
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Thank you and questions
Vicki Finlay
[email protected]