In recent years the numbers of health visitors in the workforce have declined nationally, as has the number of health visitor student placements commissioned across some regions.

The Heath Visiting Implementation Plan 2011-15 was published recently setting out the commitment for a larger, re-energised health visiting profession to lead and deliver improved services to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, families and communities. This is a challenging agenda to transform the health visiting workforce which includes both a significant increase in numbers of registered health visitors and a redesign of the service to deliver the four key offers for families and communities: (Community Development; Universal Services - including the Healthy Child Programme; Universal Plus and Universal Partnership Plus). For more information, go to the Health Visiting website.