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NHS

Spotlights:
Health Visiting

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ChatHealth

More than 40% of health visiting services in England have adopted ChatHealth to offer safe and secure messaging to parents and carers of babies and children under 5.

Feedback shows that busy parents value the convenience of a messaging helpline alongside more traditional ways to get help. In some cases, swift support and advice via text from a health visitor can avoid needing a GP appointment or going to A&E.

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Visit ChatHealth website

Health visitors are using ChatHealth to :

  • offer quick and easy access to healthcare
  • increase contact from parents and carers who may find it difficult to seek support and advice
  • provide an efficient and effective way for health visitors to communicate with parents and carers

Number of Contacts

67,200

messaging conversations with parents and carers of children under 5 in 2022-2023

(as of March 2023)

Number of Contacts

37,058

messaging conversations with parents and carers of children aged 0-19 in 2022-2023

(as of March 2023)

Top Reasons for Contact

  • Infant feeding
  • Minor illnesses
  • General development
(as of March 2023)

Busiest Times for Contact

On Monday and Tuesday
between 9:00 – 11:00

(as of March 2023)

Service User Experience

85%

of parents and carers who used ChatHealth said their conversation helped them 

(as of March 2023)

What New Parents Say

“Having this text line is so reassuring, I’ve always had fast responses and good advice. As a new mum it’s very helpful”

(as of March 2023)

What Staff Users say

“It is such a versatile tool that allows our families across to gain access to a wealth of advice and knowledge relatively instantly.”

(as of March 2023)

Evidence

A Journal Paper on the use of a text messaging service for communications with parents and carers.

RCN Primary Health Care Journal, March 2019

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HealthWebsites

Health for Under 5s is part of our suite of HealthWebsites. It is a health information and promotion website, designed to support prospective parents and the parents and carers of children from 0-5 years.

With expert content written by health visitors and co-designed with parents, carers and families, Health for Under 5s is delivered in partnership with 9 NHS providers across the UK.

Download HealthWebsites product guide
Visit Health for Under 5s website

Health for Under 5s

Health visitors are using Health for Under 5s  to:

  • offer easy, digital access to information and advice to parents and carers
  • complement and strengthen the support offered via other channels
  • provide a cost-effective way to develop and maintain an online presence

Number of Local Areas

9

Local Areas are delivered by NHS partners

(as of March 2023)

Most Visited Pages

  1. Article: Top Tips for Ditching the Dummy
  2. Hampshire Local Area: Your Health Visiting Service
  3. Article: How to help your baby latch on for breastfeeding
(as of March 2023)

Service User Experience

76%

of Health for Under 5s visitors said the information helped them

(as of March 2023)

What New Parents Say:

“The Health for Under 5s website is a really great resource, especially at a time when face-to-face contact and support is hard to come by.”

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