Unite/CPHVA 2009

Annual Professional Conference

Front row left to right: Glasgow child protection advisor Carol Dews, NPC member for Scotland Annie Hair, Berkshire East health visitor Joyce Still, Haringey health visitor Tenby Dzingai Back row left to right: Manchester health visitor Margaret Koller, Unite health sector recruitment organiser Kate Oultram, Unite/CPHVA professional officer Dave Munday

Annual professional conference

Unite/CPHVA says goodbye to Cheryll Adams Left to right: Alison Higley, Kevin Browne, Lord Victor Adebowale, Angela Roberts, Cheryll Adams, Karen Reay

Leading your professional future

Unite staff and officers, including Unite national officer Karen Reay and Unite/CPHVA president Lord Victor Adebowale, came together to wish Unite/CPHVA lead professional officer Cheryll Adams a sad farewell, before her and her fellow lead professional officer Obi Amadi gave an update on the associations work. Cheryll was applauded for her work over the past 10 years, particularly in raising public awareness about the profession of health visiting and challenging low numbers of staff. The presentation Leading your professional future began with an update, including consultation responses, new publications and child protection work. Obi interspersed this with motivational quotes from General George Patton: Accept

Cheryll Adams

the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. Cheryll focused on health visiting, highlighting key achievements such as the Action on Health Visiting programme and launch of the Academy of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Research in February. Cheryll ended the presentation, stating: I know, we know, you know together, we can do it.

Not only... but also...

As usual, a wealth of concurrent sessions and fringe meetings also took place over the three days. These included meetings of the Education Committee, Equalities Committee, Academic Researchers Network, Perinatal Mental Health Network, UK Public Health Association and NMC, as well as site visits to childrens centres. Sessions covered issues as diverse as sexual health in communities in the Caribbean and UK, the breastfeeding treasure box, listening to parents of Gypsy and Traveller children, tackling domestic violence, and widening the entry gates to health visiting.

APF 2009: questions and answers

A question and debate session at this years Annual Professional Forum (APF), held during the morning before the annual professional conference, focused primarily on safeguarding and Alison Higley, Angela Roberts, leadership. Information from the Cheryll Adams, Obi Amadi debate is intended to be shared with the Department of Health, NMC, commissioners and employers in order to reflect members concerns. Questions from members stimulated a debate over accountability.The forum explored the reality of adhering to legal requirements within a context in which specialist community public health nurses have little professional autonomy.The effect on child safeguarding and pressure on frontline staff were explored, and action points, including writing group letters to management and filing a grievance were emphasised. Skill mix was also discussed, opening a debate about a lack of skill mix preparation for students.

Photographs by Patrick Southwell