Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) is developing its highly respected public health nursing team by recruiting 17 Band 5 and 6 nurses to work as Health Visitors and School Nurses as part of Healthy Together in Leicestershire.
The nurses will be working across the county, giving advice and support to families that will help promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the likelihood of ill-health through delivery of the Healthy Child Programme. The 0-19 service (Healthy Together) works with children, young people and their families to deliver care close to where they live their lives – care delivered at home, in Children’s Centres, school and GP practices.
LPT provides a range of community health, mental health and learning disability services for people of all ages. Across more than 100 sites, from inpatient wards to community settings, the workforce of 6,500 staff serves more than a million people living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Jane Sansom, Family Services Manager at Melton Mowbray Hospital said, “Public health nursing promotes and protects the health of the population. We aim to give children the best start in their lives and offer early intervention as physical and mental health issues emerge.
“LPT is developing its public health nursing team and looking for skilled senior nurses who are great team players, able to manage and lead change. They will need good time management and record keeping skills. In return, we offer excellent career progression. Our teams are full of committed and skilled people who want to deliver the best possible care for children and families”.
“Our goal is to “grow our own” public health nurses and build sustainable teams, so there will be opportunities to apply to a funded university course to become a Band 6 Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN). As 2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, now would be a great time to consider public health nursing as the next step in your nursing career – it’s a hugely rewarding area of nursing.”
Fiona Irvine is a SCPHN (Health Visitor) for LPT. She says, “Every day is different and every day I feel I am making a difference. At LPT there are many opportunities for personal and professional development. We have a very supportive team committed to wanting the best for children and families. Our managers help with any issues, we meet as a team daily and we’re embracing new ways of working using technology.”
One example of this is LPT’s public health websites tailored to different age groups, such as Health for Under 5s. As a Health Visitor, it’s great to be able to signpost new and expectant mums to a whole range of online resources, such as our Bumps to Babies antenatal programme, or weaning and portion size advice. There’s also the award-winning ‘Chat Health’ text messaging services which are available to both parents, as well as to young people of secondary school age.
Natalie Driver is a Healthy Child Programme Nurse for LPT and works in schools that use the Chat Health service. She says, “People can send a text about an aspect of their physical or emotional health (or that of their child) that is causing them concern, in the knowledge that they will receive a response within 24 hours Monday to Friday.. This efficient service helps people feel reassured that they will get the support they need quickly without having to wait for a call back. For young people in particular, who may feel uncomfortable having to make an appointment to discuss their health concerns face-to-face, Chat Health is a brilliant way of breaking down the barriers and encouraging them to get the support they need.”
Natalie says, “I have an exciting job and no two days are the same. We do a lot of health promotion within schools, including children and young people’s clinics, face to face meetings and group work. For instance, we recently did a group workshop on anxiety. Other issues tend to arise in these sessions that we can then address. We also ask children to fill in questionnaires which can be very revealing and help us discover where the issues lie. I’d highly recommend this role as it’s a real unique position to be in – to be an advocate for children and young people.”
These roles attract an incentive payment which pays £2000 over the course of three years.
To find out more and apply for one of the roles, click here:
Health Visitor (closing 3rd April) https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/915992696
Healthy Child Programme Nurse (closing 31st March) https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/915987564
LPT is part of the recruitment campaign Y/Our Future that unites five major health and social care employers – University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, LOROS Hospice, Rutland County Council and Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council – to recruit doctors, nurses and health and social care workers to work in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
For more information on the vacancies visit: https://www.your-future.co.uk/
