Public Health Practice SCPHN Health Visiting PGDip - 2026/7

Awarding body

University of Surrey

Teaching institute

University of Surrey

Framework

FHEQ Level 7

Final award and programme/pathway title

PGDip Public Health Practice SCPHN Health Visiting

Subsidiary award(s)

Award Title
PGCert Public Health Practice SCPHN Health Visiting

Professional recognition

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a post-registration and CPD qualification.

Modes of study

Route code Credits and ECTS Credits
Full-time PTA56915 120 credits and 60 ECTS credits
Part-time PTA56916 120 credits and 60 ECTS credits

QAA Subject benchmark statement (if applicable)

Other internal and / or external reference points

NMC (2022a) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-of-proficiency-for-specialist-community-public-health-nurses2/ NMC (2022b) Part 3: Standards for post-registration programmes https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-for-post-registration-programmes/ NMC (2018a) Part 1: Standards framework for nursing and midwifery education https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards-for-education-and-training/standards-framework-for-nursing-and-midwifery-education/ NMC (2018b) Part 2: Standards for student supervision and assessment https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards-for-education-and-training/standards-for-student-supervision-and-assessment/

Faculty and Department / School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Health Sciences

Programme Leader

ROBERTS Sarah (Health Sci.)

Date of production/revision of spec

18/12/2024

Educational aims of the programme

  • To develop health visitors who undertake assessments of families and children that are child centred, safeguarding those who are most vulnerable, advocating for fairness and social justice to support children to reach their full potential.
  • To develop critically autonomous specialist public health nurses in health visiting who can adapt and tailor their response to enable them to improve population health whilst promoting human rights and addressing inequalities.
  • To equip health visitor students, in partnership with other agencies, with the skills to lead and transform public health practice through the application of the latest evidence and research whilst considering the impact of diversity on health and equitable service provision.
  • To equip health visitor students with the knowledge and skills to design, deliver and evaluate culturally competent, person-centred health promotion to empower parents and carers to make informed choices in relation to health behaviours.
  • To provide health visitor students with the theoretical and practical competencies to meet the standards of proficiency for entry to the NMC register as a SCPHN Health Visitor.

Programme learning outcomes

Attributes Developed Awards Ref.
Critically evaluate and apply the evidence base and public health data in order to promote health and prevent ill health and disability that are influenced by genetics, life choices, inequality, environmental factors, non-communicable diseases, trauma, public health hazards and emergencies and pandemics. KCT PGCert, PGDip
Identify opportunities to lead, influence and collaborate with other agencies, organisations and professionals to critically evaluate and develop innovative, sustainable public health interventions that inform and improve health across the life course within communities. KCPT PGDip
To develop innovative and culturally competent, autonomous practitioners who are committed to advocating for and improving people¿s fundamental human right for health and wellbeing, leading and developing teams to reflect contemporary developments in the delivery of public health. KCPT PGCert, PGDip
Demonstrate a critical awareness of the impact of vulnerability on children and families and analyse policy; to play a key role in the safeguarding of those people who are most vulnerable in society to ensure early intervention and prevention. KCPT PGCert, PGDip
To develop advanced assessment and surveillance skills in order to identify the unique health needs of individuals, families and communities in order to address health inequalities. KPT PGDip
Critically apply theory and policy to promote mental health for parents, families and infants, including the identification of perinatal mental ill health and infant distress, in order to provide appropriate care and support and facilitate access to specialist mental health services. KCPT PGCert, PGDip
Demonstrate the ability to initiate evidence-based, person-centred interventions to promote healthy relationships, applying the theory of strength based partnership working in order to assess and review strengths, changing circumstances and relationships on child development and child and family health and wellbeing and adapt support accordingly. KPT PGCert, PGDip
Critically apply specialist knowledge of anatomy, neurodevelopment, physiology and epigenetics to support parents, carers and families to understand what is needed to promote the healthy development and wellbeing of infants and enhance awareness of the differentials of risk in relation to the child¿s age, stage of development and home environment. KCPT PGDip
Critically apply specialist knowledge of social and emotional development and the theories of attachment, demonstrating an understanding of their impact on parental-child relationships in order to support families to develop sensitive, responsive relationships showing respect for autonomy, privacy and a wide range of values and parenting beliefs while safeguarding the welfare of the child. KCPT PGCert, PGDip
Apply advanced communication skills to establish trusting relationships with families to promote healthy environments, attitudes and cultures for infants and children that acknowledge and respect the uniquely individual nature of each home setting and family unit. KPT PGDip
To develop a critical understanding of how to support parents and families who receive a life changing or life limiting diagnosis for their child, including physical and learning disabilities and complex long-term conditions, working in partnership in order to advocate and empower them to respond to their needs, including engaging with services and resources. KCPT PGCert, PGDip

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Programme structure

Full-time

This programme is studied full-time over one year, consisting of 120 credits at FHEQ level 7. Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)

Part-time

This programme is studied part-time over two years, consisting of 120 credits at FHEQ level 7. Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)

Programme Adjustments (if applicable)

N/A

Modules

Year 2 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7

Module code Module title Status Credits Semester
HCRM043 ADVANCED ASSESSMENT AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING PRACTICE Core 15 1
HCRM052 SAFEGUARDING IN HEALTHCARE Core 15 1
NURM202 LEADING SERVICE DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING Core 30 Year-long

Module Selection for Year 2 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7

N/A

Year 1 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7

Module code Module title Status Credits Semester
NURM197 DEVELOPING AUTONOMOUS PRACTICE IN SCPHN (SCHOOL NURSING) Core 15 Cross Year
HCRM048 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH Core 15 1
NURM199 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE Core 15 2

Module Selection for Year 1 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7

N/A

Opportunities for placements / work related learning / collaborative activity

Associate Tutor(s) / Guest Speakers / Visiting Academics Y
Professional Training Year (PTY) N
Placement(s) (study or work that are not part of PTY) N
Clinical Placement(s) (that are not part of the PTY scheme) Y Yes
Study exchange (Level 5) N
Dual degree N

Other information


On achieving a Post Graduate Diploma Public Health Practice in SCPHN Health Visiting, students will be eligible for registration with the NMC as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. The student award must be registered with the NMC within five years of successfully completing the programme and if a student fails to do so they will have to undertake additional education and training or gain such experience as specified in NMC standards for the award to be registered. (NMC 2022b 5.2).

Exiting the programme with a Post Graduate Certificate in Public Health Practice will not lead to any NMC awards. Any combination of modules, apart from Developing Autonomous Practice in SCPHN (Health Visiting), can be used to meet the 60 credits for the Post Graduate Certificate.

The School of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience.¿ This programme is specifically designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas, enhanced detail is provided within each module specification:¿¿

Digital capabilities: Students will develop their digital capabilities by the critical use of information, problem solving and innovative approaches, such as technology enhanced learning.¿ These skills will be transferable to their role as a specialist community public health nursing and a leader where public health data underpins the identification of health needs and supports service development. The students work in a dynamic, modern health or social care environment, currently driven by the need for innovation in digital health and transformation of services. The modes of student learning have been designed to encourage student to engage with available digital resources (e.g., self-directed, blended, hybrid, asynchronous/synchronous).¿¿

Employability: All students on the programme will be a NMC registered nurse (level 1) or NMC registered midwife. They will be developing skills and knowledge that can be applied to their role and will enhance their future employability and career aspirations. On achieving a Post Graduate Diploma Public Health Practice in SCPHN Health Visiting, students will be eligible for registration with the NMC as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. Therefore enhancing their professional role and developing employability is core to this programme.

Global and cultural capabilities: To mirror the diversity within Health and Social care environments, the programme incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures, thus enabling students to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences in a healthcare setting.¿¿¿The importance of equity, diversity and inclusion, is core to this pathway and the NMC (2022a) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses. This is achieved in a variety of ways, but particularly through engagement with clinical experts and users of the services to expand on the expertise within the teaching team.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Throughout the programme students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to ever changing needs of working in a community setting as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. This pillar is fundamental to the development of effective and safe health professionals. Scenario based examples are used during the programme, utilise experiential learning theory to draw on the students considerable clinical and life experiences, to develop students¿ ability to respond effectively to situations within their professional field.

Sustainability: Students are encouraged to recognise and respond to the need for sustainable community public health provision. Throughout the programme students will be developing skills to enable them to advocate for and improve people¿s fundamental human right for health and wellbeing through leading and developing innovate services that reflect contemporary developments in the delivery of public health and the United Nations¿ Sustainable Development Goals. As a programme team we are very aware of the responsibility we also hold, supporting programmes that are funded by central government, and therefore state funded, utilising a hybrid approach, enables clinical colleagues to engage with programme design and delivery, but where possible in a virtual format to ensure they remain able to support national healthcare services.

Quality assurance

The Regulations and Codes of Practice for taught programmes can be found at:

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/quality-enhancement-standards

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.