Dr Condon, who joined the college earlier this year with a background in nursing, midwifery, and health visiting, was recently awarded the fellowship by the Government Health Minister, Dr Dan Poulter, at a ceremony in Westminster. Institute of Health Visiting Fellows are health visitors with exceptional leadership qualities delivering excellence in practice. They are known as professionals who 'push the boundaries', have an entrepreneurial spirit and have made a real difference to the health outcomes of children, families and communities. Whilst many are from clinical practice, some also come from research and education.

Dr Condon’s application for fellowship was supported by testimonies from a peer, line manager and a student and was subsequently reviewed by leaders of the profession.

Dr Condon said: “I took part in a four day leadership programme in London with fellow iHV fellows from across the country where I learnt more about influencing policy, promoting health visiting practice as well as leadership.

“I think it’s very important to have strong links between university and practice. My background is very firmly in practice with extensive experience in the NHS as health visitor and midwife and I feel that I bring this expertise to my academic career.

“It’s good to have contribution to the health visiting profession in both practice and research recognised. I’ll build on these links in future work into health and wellbeing in Wales.

Dr Condon concluded: “I feel very honoured to be one of the first cohorts of fellows, and look forward to implementing what I have learnt in my role here at the College.”

• The College of Human and Health Sciences at Swansea University draws together the disciplines of health, nursing, midwifery, social care, social policy and psychology. Its mission is to conduct high quality international research that meets the needs of the people of south-west Wales and beyond. The College is the largest provider of health care education in Wales, providing an exciting and dynamic environment in which to study and further an academic or professional career. In the recent Research Excellence Framework results, the Psychology department was ranked in the UK top 30 for research excellence, and 1^st in the UK for the impact of its psychology research.  Social Work was ranked 14^th in the UK for research excellence and 1^st in Wales for research quality. For more information about the courses on offer go to http://www.swansea.ac.uk/humanandhealthsciences

 Picture: Government Health Minister, Dr Dan Poulter presenting Dr Louise Condon with her Fellowship.