The role of organisations in supporting the parent/health visitor relationship

This paper, the fourth in a series of five, presents selected data from a qualitative study undertaken to identify measureable indicators of the parent/health visitor relationship. It focuses on the role organisations play in facilitating the purposeful nature of the health visiting process based in relationship-building and partnership working. Slightly different skills were required for establishing and maintaining relationships. The data revealed the importance of organisations in supporting an approach that provided continuity of care, clinical supervision, manageable caseloads, time for home visiting and simplified record-keeping. These are discussed with reference to existing literature and research.