‘Question Time’ focus on health visiting
Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:40:00 GMT
Student health visitors challenge an expert panel as the Government embarks on its Health Visit Implementation Plan
THE Department of Health is forging ahead with an ambitious plan to boost the numbers of health visitors by 50 per cent – more than 4,000 – before the end of 2015. The rapid expansion of the profession, which supports families and promotes the health of young children, is raising many issues. As a major centre for the study of public health nursing, the University of Huddersfield was an ideal location for a ‘Question Time-style’ session at which students from all over the region could quiz a panel of experts.
The event was one of a series of question-and-answers sessions dealing with the Government’s Health Visit Implementation Plan that are being organised by the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPVHA), which is a section of the Unite trade union.
Senior Lecturer Karen Adams, a Queen’s Nurse who leads the University’s Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Programme – leading to an MSc degree – offered Huddersfield as a venue for the event, which was also well attended by students from centres that included Sheffield, Leeds, Hull and Manchester.
On the panel, fielding questions alongside Karen, were Dave Munday, who is the Unite/CPHVA professional lead for health visiting; Pauline Watts (pictured), who is professional lead for health visiting at the Department of Health; Amanda Fisher, education commission lead for Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber; Sabrina Fuller, who head of health improvement at NHS England; and Sandra Pritchard, who is studying for her MSc in Health Visiting at the University of Huddersfield.
One of the principal issues raised was that of job prospects for health visitors after qualification. Students were assured that jobs were plentiful, although it might be necessary to be flexible in terms of location and applicants were advised to prepare well for their interviews.
Also discussed was whether prescribing should be a compulsory component of the HV training programme. Some employers included prescribing as an essential criteria in their job descriptions, whilst for others it less important, the audience was told, but it was agreed that it was an important dimension. Prescribing skills would build a family’s confidence in health visitors.
There was also discussion of the future direction of health visiting as it moved into local authorities. There was an assurance that the Government had shown its commitment to the future of health visiting and there was increasingly strong evidence about the importance of the first two years of life in the health of an individual.
