Grant leads health visitors

Unite has warmly welcomed the appointment of broadcaster and presenter Carrie Grant as the new President of the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA).

The CPHVA is a professional association in the health sector of Unite which represents all community practitioners including health visitors and school nurses. In particular it protects and promotes the status of community practitioners and the service they deliver.

Carrie Grant is a broadcaster, vocal coach and campaigner is best known for her role as a reporter on BBC’s The One Show and her former role as a judge on Pop Idol and Fame Academy.

She has an impressive record in the health sector. She is the patient lead for the College of Medicine and is an ambassador for three charities Crohns and Colitis UK, The National Autistic Society and The Diana Award.

She is an active campaigner for change in healthcare systems and sits on the largest transforming care panel in the UK for mental health and learning disabilities. Together with her husband David she runs a number of community support groups from her home.

In her first official role as CPHVA President she chaired this week’s health visitors’ conference, an integral part of health visitors’ week.

She said, “It is clear that the work that community practitioners and particularly with this week in mind, health visitors and their teams do is so important in the lives of families with young children.

“Times are difficult for the workforce as there have been so many changes within community practice and the dynamics of the policy arena which have meant many practitioners and their service leads are uncertain about what services are now and will look like in the future.”

‘Delighted’

Obi Amadi, Unite’s lead professional officer who has responsibility for the CPHVA, said, “We are delighted that Carrie has agreed to become our new President. Her passion and commitment to the health sector will hope to provide a spotlight to dedicated professionals whose work is often underappreciated.

“I am sure that Carrie’s profile will assist our members in raising the profile of community practitioners and health visitors and ensure that the general public gains a greater understanding of the work that our members carry out.”

The issues covered for Health Visitors’ Week include healthy weight; health conversations with migrant families and other vulnerable groups; maternal and infant mental health; and transitioning from midwifery to health visiting, among other themes salient to the profession now.

High too on the agenda is health visitor cuts as services are slashed under austerity.

Only two weeks ago, Shropshire County council put forward proposals that could see the number of specialist community nurse posts, mainly senior health visitors, being cut by 19.5 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts, with the resulting negative impact on families, often the most vulnerable in the community.

Amadi warned of a growing recruitment and retention crisis in health visiting in a recent comment piece in the Nursing Times.

“As services are decommissioned and minimised, the staff who have developed their specialisms and expertise to meet the needs of their local populations are being told the service can no longer accommodate them,” she noted.

“The reality of this is that in some areas band 7 health visitors are working as band 5 staff nurses being delegated work by their band 6 colleagues,” Amadi added.  “The effect of this just adds to the exodus of staff who feel it is one cut too many in the of Brexit, revalidation and the pay freeze where these dedicated staff so often subsidise our NHS, with their goodwill for the good of the users of their service.”

Find out more about Health Visitor’s Week here.