Health Visitors are qualified nurses or midwives who have undertaken an additional post graduate qualification in Specialist Community and Public Health. They specialise in working with families with a child/children aged 0 to 5 to identify health needs as early as possible and improve health and wellbeing. They support families and offer advice on a wide range of topics including feeding, bonding with baby, growth and development, starting solids, parental emotional and wellbeing, sleep and behaviour. Health Visitors in Haringey deliver a programme called MECSH (Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting) for families that need additional support. Health visitors work in teams with other professionals including Community Staff Nurses, Community Nursery Nurses and Health Visitor Assistants.
About Us
Haringey Health Visiting Service is made up of four teams, covering different areas across the borough (see ‘Contact Us’ page). Within each team, there are Health Visitors, Community Staff Nurses, Community Nursery Nurses and Health Visitor Assistants.
Please click on the options below to find out more about these roles and how we support families in Haringey.
Community Staff Nurses
Community Staff Nurses (CSNs) are qualified nurses who work within teams and have experience with child development and health needs. They work alongside the Health Visitor in the team, complementing them in supporting the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme by conducting health/developmental reviews at age one year and two years. They are trained to support families with behaviour, play, feeding, language development and toilet training. CSNs can support families with children with medical needs. The CSNs may also conduct home visits under the supervision of the Health Visitor providing additional support where needed and agreed with the family.
Community Nursery Nurses
Within the teams we have qualified Community Nursery Nurses (CNNs) often with extensive experience working in several different settings including schools, nurseries and children’s centres. They work alongside the Health Visitor in the team, complementing them in supporting the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme by conducting health/developmental reviews at age one year and two years. They are trained to support families with behaviour, play, feeding, language development and toilet training. The CNNs are also trained to support families where their child may need help with sleep and in baby massage techniques. The CNNs may also conduct home visits under the supervision of the Health Visitor providing additional support where needed and agreed with the family.
Health Visitor Assistant
The Health Visitor Assistant (HVA) is a key member of the Health Visiting team most often seen in the child health clinics weighing babies and toddlers. They are qualified to provide basic health promotion advice and to signpost where appropriate. They are also skilled administrators, answering the phone, signposting and managing all day-to-day administrative tasks required of a team.
Who do we work with?
Health Visiting teams work alongside early years services which include family support workers, nurseries and other children’s centre staff within Haringey community.
They work alongside specialists from midwifery, GPs, Parent Infant Psychology Service (PIPS), community therapy teams and parent & baby services.
As community workers, the Health Visiting teams also work with the voluntary sector, for example Home Start, CARIS and Haringey Connected Communities.
Page last updated: 01 Feb 2023