A safe return to schools
This blog looks at the work happening on COVID-19 to keep schools safe, including testing and how we monitor the data.
Viv Bennett
In January 2012, Viv was appointed as the Department of Health’s Director of Nursing and the Government’s Principal Advisor on Public Health Nursing, providing high quality and independent nursing advice to ministers and officials on policy issues and public health nursing. She leads the national Health Visiting Programme and School Nurse Development Programme. As of September 2012, Viv was also appointed the Director of Nursing at Public Health England.
She trained as a nurse in Oxford in 1976 and worked in children’s nursing before training as a health visitor in Oxford in the early 1980s. She worked as a health visitor and research health visitor in Oxford whilst studying for a BA and then
Masters degree in health and social policy.
Viv has worked in a number of NHS operational management and commissioning roles and undertaken nurse executive roles in both provider and commissioning organisations. She has also worked for SHA and local government on projects relating to nursing strategy and services for children and families.
Viv joined the Department of Health (DH) as Deputy Chief Nursing Officer in November 2007. She is a Fellow of the Queen’s Nursing Institute, a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Coventry in November 2012.
COVID-19: Science lessons – What We Know About COVID-19 in Schools
As all school children prepare to return to the classroom from the 8 March, read our blog on what we know about school safety.
The importance of vaccinating children against flu
This year, it is more important than ever that we do everything we can to protect the population and the NHS from flu. The childhood flu vaccination programme is a key part of this. This blog looks at what is new for this year.
Rising to the challenge in the Year of the Nurse and Midwife
In this blog Viv Bennett, Chief Nurse at Public Health England, expresses her pride in how the nursing profession is playing a vital role in providing high quality care in the most challenging circumstances.
Celebrating 70 years of the NHS and the roles of nursing and midwifery
Nurse Study group - Credit Queens Nursing Institute The birth of the NHS back in 1948 was a watershed moment in the nation’s history and over the past 70 years it has become an integral part of the national character …
International Nurses' Day - how PHE is supporting nurses
International Nurses’ Day is celebrated each year on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Florence herself was described as a social reformer, a statistician and the founder of modern nursing - a blend of public health and nursing that led …
Continuing the mandation of the universal 5 health visiting checks
This post was published when Public Health England had responsibility for health visiting services. For the most recent information please visit the NHS website. What happens in pregnancy and early childhood impacts on a child’s physical and emotional health all the way into …
International Nurses' Day - how nurses are helping to fight obesity
Today (May 12) is International Nurses’ Day and I’d like to use this as an opportunity to talk about the role nurses and midwives play in prevention and improving health – particularly with regard to tackling obesity. Obesity is a …
Health Matters: Giving every child the best start in life
Welcome to the fifth edition of PHE’s Health Matters, a resource for public health professionals, which brings together important facts, figures and evidence of effective interventions to tackle major public health problems. This edition focuses on giving every child the best start …
Vaccination is a lifelong benefit – make every contact count
It’s European Immunisation Week - a great time to celebrate the achievements of everyone who delivers vaccination programmes and highlight the benefit of vaccines throughout life. This week we’re particularly urging professionals who work with young people/young adults to make …