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.
We all want the best start for our children. Protecting babies and infants from illness and disease is crucial and a key priority for PHE. Immunisations are quick, safe and effective. In England we have added to the immunisation schedule …
The health visiting service has been transformed in recent years to improve access, experience, outcomes and contribute to reducing health inequalities. This is the story of what's been achieved through more health visitors and renewed vision. Follow @VivJBennett or https://vivbennett.blog.gov.uk/
In Jan 2015, the Department of Health (DH) and Public Health England (PHE) announced that ‘responsibility for public health nursing and midwifery leadership will transfer to PHE from April, replacing the current joint arrangement between us both. The new arrangements …
As we come to the end of the year it seems timely to use this blog to highlight some of the progress we’ve made in ensuring the roles of nurses and midwives - in health protection and improvement - are …
The ‘best start for all our children’ is vital for a healthy and thriving future society. All the evidence shows us that what happens in early childhood and the developing years’ impacts on health and well-being and life chances throughout …
School holidays are upon us, a time for children and young people to enjoy with friends and family, a real opportunity to play, explore and generally chill! Some young people, however, have ongoing responsibilities which may prevent or reduce the …
This weekend I am devoting to sport! (For the record, it will be some cycling alongside enjoying the current plethora of sport viewing opportunities). This is my R&R following the excitement that was our third week of action (on health …
This is the title of our second national conference focused on maximising the contribution of nurses, midwives, health visitors and allied health professionals (AHPs) to protecting and improving the public’s health. Personalised care and population health is also the name …
What do young people think are the big public health messages? The best way to find out is to ask them! Listening to children and young people is core to PHE and Department of Health values and both organisations have …
At end of February nurses and midwives from both PHE and the Department of Health ran a week of action linked to NHS Change Day, focusing on health protection and building resilience. We focused on the public health challenges of …
