Guidance

Healthy child programme: commissioning public health nursing services

How commissioners should establish, monitor and assure the quality of public health nursing services delivered under the healthy child programme in England.

Applies to England

Documents

Annexes

Details

The healthy child programme is the Department of Health and Social Care’s major public health programme for children, and the national delivery model for public health visiting and school nursing services from preconception to adulthood (ages 0 to 19, or up to the age of 25 for care leavers and those with special educational needs and disabilities) in England.

This commissioning guidance supports effective implementation among local providers of the programme’s services.

It includes information on:

  • the responsibilities of commissioners and providers
  • requirements for registration with the Care Quality Commission
  • service design
  • service sustainability
  • commissioning for specific populations
  • data collection
  • reporting and assessment against outcomes

This guidance has been written primarily for commissioners and providers of relevant public health nursing services. It should be read in conjunction with the following related publications:

Updates to this page

Published 6 February 2026

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