Pioneering health visitor Ruth Haas Eckersley has been awarded a prestigious scholarship to become a Fellow of the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV).
Specialist SEND health visitor Ruth is one of just 24 exceptional health visitors from around the UK to join the Dame Elizabeth Fradd Leadership Programme. It’s the first time in a decade that the iHV has appointed new Fellows and it follows a highly competitive application process.
She will complete a three-phase programme of development aimed at propelling leadership potential and strengthening health visiting leadership for the future.
Ruth, who is also a Queen’s Nurse, was NCA’s first health visitor to be a principal investigator on a research study and is the Trust’s health visitor screening link co-ordinator in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, overseeing blood spot tests for newborns and making sure that babies arriving in the area from outside the UK are included.
This ties into her interest in genomics, which also sees her being part of the national steering group to support health visitors involved in the Generation Study, testing babies for more than 200 conditions.
During her Fellowship programme, Ruth will have input into policy development nationally and will also carry out a project locally in Rochdale, where she’s worked for 13 years.
She said: “I am really looking forward to sharing ideas with my Fellowship colleagues and feel inspired, re-energised and proud to be part of a profession so committed to improving outcomes for babies, children and families. We need evidence to drive change and improve outcomes and this Fellowship will be a key step along the way.”