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Supporting the competence of practitioners: back to the future?

Health visitors have traditionally been part of the public health workforce, but changes within the NHS have resulted in a reduced public health role.With the development of NMC public health competencies and renaming of their qualification to specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN), their public health role has again become prominent. This study aimed to examine whether practitioners were supported in fulfilling the development of these competencies and to identify strategic resources within the local health service that would either help or hinder these developments.A qualitative approach and purposive sampling were utilised, resulting in five participants in two focus groups. Findings were set within the continually evolving context of government policy and local health agendas--the potential facilitation or conflict of competence afforded by the local health strategies, priorities and requirements of the local and national health economy, the capabilities of health visiting staff and their service as a whole and the role of historical and cultural issues, and the future service and workforce development. Further research is recommended to increase understanding of the processes that inform and evaluate local health service priorities, their impact upon practitioners and how SCPHNs may develop their competence in public health practice.