The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our lives, including in how we work. There is much to celebrate as health visiting’s incredible efforts and innovations supported hundreds of thousands of families during these times. However, the scale of the aftermath, with widening inequalities, growing public health threats, and a workforce crisis, continue to present significant challenges for staff and leaders.

It is absolutely clear that the future of our nation’s health does not sit in hospitals – the solutions lie in public health, and this includes health visiting. Collaborative and inclusive leadership will be key to rebuilding and leading a strengthened public health response. It is therefore imperative that health visiting has strong leaders to maximise the opportunities ahead.

But how can we focus our efforts and maximise these opportunities at a time of significant challenge?

Due to be held in-person on 7 December, our annual leadership conference provides an established forum for leaders in the fields of health visiting and the early years to come together with leading experts as we focus on ‘Translating vision into reality’. Our conference this year also marks the 10th Anniversary of the Institute of Health Visiting – a perfect occasion to celebrate the very best of health visiting and the vital part that it plays in improving health and reducing inequalities.

This year we are delighted to have a number of very eminent speakers lined up to address our delegates, including Prof Sir Michael Marmot, Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy (England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer) and we also hope to welcome the new Chief Public Health Nurse for England and leaders of the Scottish HV evaluation. Delegates at this year’s conference will also be the first to see the premiere of our short film on health visiting across the UK which is currently in development.

As this will be our first in-person Leadership conference since 2019, we know that networking will be important. So, we have allocated more time for panel discussions, as well as breaks to catch up with colleagues, make new connections with others and meet the iHV team. We are also looking forward to being joined by the fabulous Kenny Gibson MBE (Deputy Director - NHS Safeguarding, NHS England) and a team of leaders who will be bringing a new ‘voice’ to wellbeing… no spoilers - but guaranteed to be a lot of fun!

I hope that you will be able to join us. If you are unable to join in person, you will also have the option to join us online through our virtual conference platform - see our booking page for ticket options. This conference always receives excellent feedback from delegates who report that they leave feeling re-energised and reconnected. Many of our delegates also take the opportunity to meet up with colleagues from across the UK and enjoy the ambience and other attractions of London at Christmas.

The conference will explore the biggest public health challenges facing families with babies and children in the UK, as well as the most recent policy and evidence to equip leaders to build and deliver services to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.

Together we will explore what more needs to be done to address deep-seated issues in the health and care system, how to maximise the role of health visiting through visible leadership and by building a strong, collective voice to drive forwards transformation and advocate for social justice.  

See the programme for further details of session topics and speaker profiles. Delegates will also gain CPD points to support their NMC revalidation.