Camden Council’s Best Start for Baby Service
Expected completion: June 2026
Presentation delivered by Sarah Janac of the preliminary findings of the evaluation. Taken from the Local Government Associations public health lunch and learn session recorded 2 July 2026
At a glance
Camden delivers Best Start for Baby, an enhanced model of the Healthy Child Programme. Best Start for Baby offers eight health visiting contacts from pregnancy to age 24 months, compared with the five contacts typically offered in many other parts of the UK. The service is free and universally available to all Camden mothers, fathers and carers. This evaluation focuses specifically on the universal health visiting component of Best Start for Baby, with a particular emphasis on understanding whether the service is reaching families equitably, especially those who may benefit most. It will analyse routinely collected service data to understand who attends the eight health visiting contacts and who does not. It will also include focus groups with families and staff delivering the service to explore experiences of engagement, barriers to participation, and opportunities for improvement. The findings will help identify changes that could improve equitable access, enabling more families across Camden to benefit from the service.
What does the evaluation mean for Local Government?
Best Start for Baby is an enhanced model of the Healthy Child Programme and has been available across the borough since April 2024. It provides eight health visiting contacts from pregnancy to age two, alongside integrated support from Community Nursery Nurses, psychologists and the wider Family Hub network.
This evaluation will examine whether the universal health visiting offer is reaching families equitably, particularly those who stand to benefit most, and identify opportunities to improve engagement and access. The findings and recommendations will provide valuable learning for other local authorities seeking to strengthen the equity, reach and effectiveness of universal public health services for babies, young children and their families.
How are the public involved in this evaluation?
Several parents who have experience with Best Start for Baby attended the Evaluability Assessment workshops at the start of the evaluation. These sessions are used to shape the evaluation questions and the methods that will be used. At the workshops, the parents shared their perspective and their experiences of Best Start for Baby and how it works. They also influenced the evaluation questions and methods.
In addition, a public involvement group is helping guide this evaluation. The group is made up of parents and carers, all of whom are eligible (or were eligible in the past) for Best Start for Baby. The public involvement group will meet approx. 4 times throughout the evaluation. In the meetings, the group will discuss the following: How would you explain Best Start for Baby? What is the best recruitment strategy for interviews and focus groups for the evaluation? What should the recruitment material look like? What topics could be explored in interviews and focus groups that we haven’t thought of? Which findings and recommendations surprise you? Which ones are most important to you? What do you think are the key messages for families in Camden?
Evaluation Details
What is the Camden Best Start for Baby Service?
Best Start for Baby (BSfB) is an enhanced model of the Healthy Child Programme delivered by Camden Council, in partnership with Central North West London NHS Trust. It offers mothers, fathers and carers eight health visiting contacts from pregnancy to age 24 months, compared with the five mandated contacts typically offered in many other parts of England. In addition to the eight universal health visiting appointments, Best Start for Baby also offers an additional two appointments for families with emerging concerns, as well as signposting to a range of additional support focused on perinatal mental health, parent-infant relationships, and wider family wellbeing.
The service is free and universally available to all Camden mothers, fathers and carers. It supports children's health and development, parental wellbeing, including perinatal mental health, the parent–infant relationship, and early communication and language development. Families receive support from Health Visitors, Community Nursery Nurses and psychologists, delivered flexibly through home visits and appointments in Camden's Best Start Family Hubs. These contacts provide opportunities for families to ask questions, receive advice, and access the wider Family Hub offer, including both universal and targeted services.
Why is an evaluation necessary?
This evaluation will explore how families engage with the eight universal health visiting appointments, identify barriers experienced by different groups, and examine how the service could be improved to increase equitable access and participation. Understanding why some families engage more than others will help ensure the service continues to meet the needs of Camden's diverse population and that those who stand to benefit most are able to access support.
What are the main evaluation questions?
- Is Best Start for Baby reaching all families in Camden equitably?
- Which families engage with the universal health visiting contacts, and which do not?
- What barriers prevent some families from accessing or engaging with the service?
- What changes could improve equitable access and engagement?
- What aspects of the service already support successful engagement?
How will we answer these questions?
Analysis of existing data: We will analyse routinely collected service data to understand patterns of attendance across the eight health visiting contacts. This will help identify which families engage with the service, whether there are particular points where engagement reduces, and whether differences exist between population groups.
Focus groups: We will conduct focus groups with families to understand what makes it easier or more difficult to attend appointments and engage with the service. Families will also be invited to suggest ways the service could become more accessible.
We will also hold focus groups with Health Visitors and other professionals delivering the service to understand barriers and facilitators from a practitioner perspective.
What happens with the results of the evaluation?
The evaluation will provide evidence to help improve the universal health visiting component of Best Start for Baby, enabling more families to access and benefit from the service. Findings may inform changes to how the service is delivered, promoted and accessed, helping reduce inequalities in engagement and improving outcomes for babies and their families.
Local Government / Partner(s)
Camden Council:
Dr Sara Roberts – Principal Clinician
Jane Hutcheson – Integrated Early Years Operations Manager
Zuzana Roskova – Data Analyst (Camden Council) and Embedded Team Member (PHIRST Elevate)
Rosemary Russell – Information and Engagement Worker
Dr Freddie Thompson – Clinical Psychologist
Carla Stanke – Public Health Senior Strategist – Evidence for Equity
PHIRST Elevate Research Team
Dr Larry Doi, Dr Anna Boath, Dr Jillian Manner, Dr Sarah Janac
Contact: phirst@ed.ac.uk
NIHR Funding Award: NIHR171261