Work to transform the city’s Health Visiting Service through a strategic partnership involving the City of Wolverhampton Council and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) was recently featured as a best practice case study by the Local Government Association.
Health visitors offer a universal service to all families with pre-school children, providing advice and support in relation to family health needs and child health promotion.
The case study Health visiting in Wolverhampton: a partnership approach | Local Government Association delves into the intricate challenges, innovative solutions, impactful outcomes, and valuable lessons learned from this shift and its implications for public health and health visiting.
As a result, the number of families receiving timely support from the health visiting service in Wolverhampton has increased markedly in recent years.
The proportion of parents receiving a new birth visit leapt from 84 per cent in 2020-21 to 93 per cent in 2022-23, and is now well above the England average of 80 per cent.
The proportion of infants receiving a six to eight-week review increased from 86 per cent in 2020-21 to 91 per cent in 2022-23, while infants receiving a 12-month review is up from 73 per cent to 81 per cent over the same period. Both these are also well above the England average of 79 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
The partnership approach has also had an impact on staff recruitment and retention, a national challenge for health visiting, and has enhanced the leadership and support provided to emerging national programmes and local transformation plans, such as Family Hubs, the Start for Life Programme, and the Families First for Children Pathfinder.
Jane Lawrence, Senior Matron for Children’s Community Services, 0-19 and Children and Young People in Care at RWT, said: “I am incredibly proud of our Health Visiting Service and the national recognition for our innovative approach. This achievement is a testament to the great work and dedication of our team.
“It has been a pleasure to collaborate with our colleagues in Public Health, and together, we have made a meaningful impact on the provision of health care in our Wolverhampton community.”
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, added: “The flexibility of the partnership has allowed us to put in place key transformation programmes and priorities in a timely way to meet local need, whilst additional investment has been allocated to new specialist roles that have supported areas such as special educational needs, perinatal mental health, marketing and communications and data management.
“The increases these improvements have brought about mean more local families are receiving health visiting services during the critical first 1,001 days of a child’s life, supporting our aim to ensure all our children get the best start.
“Health visiting services provide valuable information to parents on areas such as breastfeeding, immunisations, mental health, attachment, supporting babies’ development, healthy growth and oral health. They are also well placed to recognise and make provision for families that require additional support."
