Health Visiting

Health Visitors are qualified nurses or midwives with additional training in promoting child, family and community health. They have extensive knowledge about child development, child health, parenting strategies, breast feeding, nutrition and community support networks.

Health Visitors support families to lead healthy lifestyles and prevent ill health through building relationships with individuals and the community.

Health Visitors lead a team which may include:

• Community Nurses: Registered nurses who participate in the delivery of the Health Visiting Service to families
• Community Nursery Nurses: Nurses who are not registered but have training and experience in child health and development. They provide a supportive role under the guidance of the Health Visitor

The Health Visitor works in partnership with a variety of health professionals who may have contact with your child. Professionals include:

• Paediatricians (Community Doctors)
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Orthoptist (Eyes)
• Audiology (Hearing)
• Child Psychiatrists
• Children’s Learning Disability Team

The Health Visitor also makes referrals to other professionals that may be working with your child, such as GPs, Hospital Doctors, Specialist Nurses at the Bristol Children’s Hospital, Social Care, The Lifetime Service and The Jessie May Trust and liases with them to ensure you are recieving the service you need. They will discuss their involvement with you and make a referral if it is felt appropriate, after obtaining your consent.

Who we work with

The focus of the work carried out by the Health Visiting Team is on families with young children 0-5 years.

Every family with a pre-school child (aged 0-5 years) is allocated to a Health Visitor team.