Services Provided

Health visitors, now called public health nurses are registered nurses with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, with post registration training in public health. They are community based and are part of children and families health teams with an overall remit for children aged 0-19 years.  Renfrewshire public health nurses/health visitors are employed by Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board and are attached to GP practices.

Public health nurses/health visitors follow guidance in Health for All Children, Hall 4, which provides an evidence based framework to assess, to deliver health promotion, to undertake primary prevention and target interventions towards children and families at risk.

The remit of public health nurses also involves tackling inequalities by focusing on health and social problems especially in the early years. It entails appropriate and efficient sharing of information between professionals and agencies such as social work and education where child protection concerns are identified. Public health nurses/health visitors work to local protocols and to Nursing and Midwifery codes of conduct.

Public health nurses/health visitors work with families in planning care and input for children. This is to support the health needs of individual children on the caseload of that health visitor.