Naledi Kline: Head of Nursing – Standards and Practice
Joana Quartey: Early Intervention Health Visitor
11th June 2013
 Early
contact: During pregnancy
 Targeted: Vulnerable pregnant women
 Service: Intensive work with women and their children
 Duration: Transfer to generic service between 13 – 24
months
 Health
Visitors
 MAPPIM: St. Thomas’ Hospital
 Midwives: St. Thomas’ Hospital
 Children & Young People’s Service (Lambeth)
 Children’s Centres (Lambeth)
 Peri-natal Units: KCH & St. George’s Hospital
 Community Mental Health Services
 Family Nurse Partnership (Lambeth)
 GPs (Lambeth)
 Prevention
of child abuse, safeguarding children by
providing an early help service to support children and
their families at the ‘softer’ end of child protection and
safeguarding.
 Our overarching aim is to work with parents and their
children to enable them to achieve their full potential
 Help & support to change behaviours, be the best they
can as parents and meet their children’s physical,
emotional mental and social needs.


Achieved by all four main areas of working as per Health
Visitor Implementation Plan (2011-15):
i. Community Services
ii. Universal Services
iii. Universal Plus and
iv. Universal Partnership Plus Services.
Special Focus on: The Triple ‘P’ (Positive Parenting
Programme), Sleep Clinics, Baby Massage, Home Safety,
Infant Resuscitation & Postnatal Support Groups, Personal
Ambition.



Sleep Clinics:
i. Gradual approach based on social learning theory
ii. Families are supported to make small incremental
changes
Healthy Child Programme
Hard to reach and vulnerable families from antenatal
contact to 2nd birthday and throughout childhood within
the universal teams’ caseload.

Based on helping child development through managing
their behaviour in a constructive and non-hurtful way by:
i. Ensuring a safe and engaging environment
ii. Creating a positive learning environment
iii. Using assertive discipline
iv. Focus on attachment
v. Having realistic expectations
vi. Taking care of themselves as parents
Builds confident early access to all services
 Increased antenatal contact includes individual care planning,
continuity into the postnatal period and first two years of life
 Increased breast feeding rates
 100% uptake of Immunisations and Health Reviews
 Reduced A&E attendances
 Reduced rate of second pregnancies in teenagers
 Intensive, preventive approach ensures continuity of contact
and improved working relationship

Reduced risk of maternal mental illness
 Reduced risk of exiting mental illness worsening
 Increase potential for families to protect their children and
themselves from risk of significant harm in the long term
 Cost effective as fewer failed appointments lead to effective
use of staff time

Negative associations with health visiting and other services
 Lack of confidence, self esteem and feeling powerless
 Language barriers
 Fear
 No recourse to public funds
 Asylum seekers/refuges

High quality, integrated range of early intervention services to
vulnerable children under two, their parents and carers
 Planning and managing caseloads
 Increased contact with children and families Safeguard and
promote welfare of vulnerable children and families
 Identification and management of risk

Effective partnership working across Children’s Centres
 Effective interagency partnership working
 Re-integration of teenagers and young parents to mainstream
education
 Regular attendance of vulnerable families at short courses run
at the Children’s Centres has led to increased self esteem and
self confidence for the parent users.

Ms
S Watson and son J Watson
Ms
T Cox and daughter L Cox
“
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you
are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are
thinking a hundred years ahead. educate children.”
Tzu, Chinese poet 500BC

Thank you