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Press Release Press Release Press Release Press Release
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CPHVA welcomes possibilities for closer collaboration between health and social care
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| The Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA) welcomes the attention drawn to the need for closer working between health and social care professionals by Health Secretary Alan Milburn in his speech to the Annual Social Services conference, Cardiff. The CPHVA has long held the view that individuals, groups, and communities are best assisted in maximising their health and life opportunities through effective multi-agency provision of health and social care services. Current examples of good practice would include the highly effective Sure Start initiative which brings to bear the combined skills of health and social care professionals in a true team effort to provide an enhanced level of support to parents who require additional support to that generally available. |
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| Health visitors in particular recognise the stress and strain placed upon social work colleagues and the difficulty in obtaining assistance in easing problems at an early stage before they escalate to a situation requiring urgent, often reactive, intervention. Commenting on Mr. Milburn’s proposals, CPHVA Director, Mark Jones, said: ‘Any move toward augmenting social care services and enabling access to those services before a crisis has developed is to be welcomed. The majority of community practitioners and health visitors have established sound working relationships with their social work colleagues but are often frustrated at the lack of capacity when it comes to early intervention to prevent escalation of problems within a family. What we need is more investment in social care services to allow those social workers already in the system to broaden the service they offer beyond crisis intervention to working in partnership with healthcare colleagues who have health promotion and public health as their prime concern. |
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| With more investment we will be able to apply the lessons learnt from teamworking initiatives such as Sure Start across the whole spectrum of health and social care provision, tackling social exclusion, environmental problems, and ill health in a concerted way’. On the proposals for new types of social care professional, Mark Jones specifically commented: ‘The CPHVA is no stranger to debate concerning role evolution, and is keen to work with government to maximise the service available to the public from health and social care professionals. However, before we embark on a project to create new hybrid roles we need to take stock of the examples of good practice we already have in teamworking and interprofessional collaboration. Promoting and replicating what we already do well is an essential prerequisite to any further consideration of new roles and responsibilities’. |
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| For further information please contact: Shaun Noble Professional Communications Officer CPHVA Tel: 07768 693940 |
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NOTE TO NEWS EDITORS
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Shaun Noble Communications Officer ( (020) 7939 7043
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mobile ( 07768 69 39 40
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CPHVA press releases can be seen on the CPHVA website: amicus-cphva.org
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The CPHVA - the UK’s third largest nursing union - represents health visitors, school nurses, practice nurses, district nurses and nursery nurses working in the community in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The CPHVA is a professional section of the Amicus trade union
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