Because it all went really well. Mind you, worrying about something new whether it be a job, task, project or whatever is not a bad thing because it keeps you pretty much on your toes. I am also a good way to finishing tomorrow’s programme; just need to put a bit of a powerpoint together. I am not a great lover of lots of powerpoint, but it helps me as much as them to keep on track it I have a few slides.

This course is something we have put together in-house, to help with the leadership development of a particular team within our organisation. Health Visiting is a traditional service which predominantly provides a service to the child from birth to 5 years old, as well as targeting at risk groups and providing health promotion and working on public health type stuff (for example smoking cessation and obesity). This service has been run by highly skilled professionals who have an additional qualification on top of general nursing and sometimes midwifery. There has been little skill mix and to be honest many health visitors have sat themselves in an ivory tower where only they can do much of the work.

All of this has to change. For one thing, it is an expensive service which doesn’t necessarily any more meet the needs of it’s client group; that is if the client group are clear about who they are and what they want. More and more we need to target services to those most at risk, and maybe health visiting itself needs to split into two services: one for the under 5’s and one to address public health needs of the population as a whole. Mind you these days you can have a public health qualification and work in that area without being a health visitor. Much of the work of the health visitor can be done, under supervision by other health workers, both qualified and un qualified.

So in essence that is why we have put this course together. We need to provide health visitor leaders with the necessary tools, skills and support mechanisms to meet the challenges they surely face. What’s more they are a great group of people and I have had an enjoyable day; more tomorrow.

As an appendix, I mentioned that yesterday was the start of ‘daylight saving’, with the clocks reverting back to greenwich mean time. I use the alarm on the TV to wake me: did I remember to put the clock on the TV back an hour? Of course not and was woken at 5.40am instead of 6.40; I can inform you that at 5.40 it is dark!

Health Visiting
NHS