Job overview
Band 6 Health Visitor
Are you a passionate Health Visitor eager to make a transformative impact on families and children during their crucial first five years? If so, we have an incredible opportunity just for you!
Join us at the Barnet 0-19 Service, now proudly a part of Whittington Health Trust, which serves vibrant communities across five North London boroughs.
Why Choose Us?
Be Part of a Diverse and Dynamic Community: Barnet is a bustling, richly diverse borough where you'll find endless opportunities to collaborate with a variety of partners and make a real difference.
Integrated, Supportive Team: Our 0-19 Service team is friendly, supportive, and united by a common goal – to put children and their families at the heart of everything we do.
Innovative Training and Development: We believe in continuous growth. Benefit from our robust training programs and stimulating professional development opportunities designed to expand your skillset.
Flexible Working: We understand the importance of work-life balance. We can support you with flexible working arrangements where suitable.
Prioritising Your Wellbeing: At Whittington Health, your wellbeing is our priority. You can access a wide range of support and resources to ensure you’re always at your best.
Main duties of the job
Main duties of the job
The Health Visitor is responsible for the delivery of the universal and targeted Healthy Child Programme (HCP) to local families. The Health Visitor will support the development of the service and work with colleagues to ensure the delivery of a safe and effective HCP.
1.To manage a caseload of families. The Health Visitor will be the named health professional, with responsibility for the planning and delivery of the HCP.
2.To be responsible for identifying need within a family or community. To use child and family centred public health approaches to address health inequalities.
3.To line manage junior members of staff, ensuring the completion of annual appraisals, 1:1s, and personal development of self and junior staff. Support staff with performance, ensuring that poor performance is addressed appropriately.
4.To support students and new starters. To support the retention and recruitment of staff.
5.To deliver needs led evidence-based care that supports the local and national priorities and policies.
6.To be the principal point of contact for allocated GP Practices and Children’s Centres in an area.
7.To work with local statutory, private and voluntary providers, and users to develop and promote practice that is accessible and responsive to all sections of the local community, ensuring that services are targeted to the most vulnerable groups and individuals to support social inclusion.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main duties of the job
The Health Visitor is responsible for the delivery of the universal and targeted Healthy Child Programme (HCP) to local families. The Health Visitor will support the development of the service and work with colleagues to ensure the delivery of a safe and effective HCP.
1. To manage a caseload of families. The Health Visitor will be the named health professional, with responsibility for the planning and delivery of the HCP.
2. To be responsible for identifying need within a family or community. To use child and family centred public health approaches to address health inequalities.
3. To line manage junior members of staff, ensuring the completion of annual appraisals, 1:1s, and personal development of self and junior staff. Support staff with performance, ensuring that poor performance is addressed appropriately.
4. To support students and new starters. To support the retention and recruitment of staff.
5. To deliver needs led evidence-based care that supports the local and national priorities and policies.
6. To be the principal point of contact for allocated GP Practices and Children’s Centres in an area.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
7. Health Visiting professional qualification, with entry onto the 3rd part of the NMC Register.
8. Evidence of Continuing Professional Development.
Desirable criteria
9. Educated to degree level or equivalent
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
10. Ability to work as part of a team.
11. Willingness to develop and support management of change
12. Excellent communication skills: IT, written and oral
13. Ability to delegate work appropriately and safely
14. Ability to set personal objectives, and manage time, priorities and stressful situations
15. Collect and monitor data as required
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
16. Knowledge of the Healthy Child Programme The ability to identify, respond to and evaluate family health needs, including the delivery of public health programmes.
17. Understanding of the safeguarding process and child protection procedures, clinical governance arrangements and the ability to make decisions in these areas.
18. Knowledge of infection control standards.
19. Commitment to the development of excellent services, which focus on improved outcomes for children
Desirable criteria
20. Management experience in a health service setting.
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
21. Must have ability to build professional and personal credibility
22. Must have ability to recognise own need for support and supervision
23. Able to exercise initiative
24. Self - motivated
25. Work flexibly to address the needs of the service
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
26. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
27. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
28. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
29. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
30. Participate in required training and supervision.
31. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.