Guidance

Family Nurse Partnership programme

How the Family Nurse Partnership supports first-time young mothers and families in England, why it works, where it is delivered and how to commission it.

From:
Department of Health and Social Care
Published
18 July 2024

Applies to England

About the Family Nurse Partnership

The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is an intensive, targeted home-visiting programme for first-time young mothers and families. The programme aims to improve children’s life chances.

FNP is of benefit to both parents and their children and works primarily through the mother. However, family nurses also engage with the mother’s partner, whether they are the child’s biological father or otherwise. This helps support improved programme delivery and outcomes for the child, as shown in the Fatherhood Institute’s 2022 report Bringing Baby Home: UK fathers in the first year after birth.

Family nurses support mothers enrolled in FNP to: 

  • have a healthy pregnancy
  • improve their child’s health, development and school readiness
  • reach their own goals and aspirations

Family nurses work within local systems encouraging young parents to engage with other appropriate services. Family nurses are well placed to identify when extra safeguarding support is needed. They also work with children’s social care to ensure children are kept safe, while continuing to provide the FNP programme through home visits.

FNP is a licensed programme developed by the University of Colorado Denver, USA. The programme has been established in 8 countries and delivered in England since 2007.

How the FNP programme works

Family Nurse Partnership teams recruit first-time mothers aged up to 24 in line with local area eligibility criteria. The programme is structured and personalised to reflect the strengths and needs of each individual.

Each mother is partnered with a specially trained family nurse. The family nurse visits the mother regularly from early pregnancy until their child is aged between one and 2. Family nurses provide a safe, reflective space for mothers to process information and guidance on key areas relating to their pregnancy and parenthood.

Family nurses work relationally, supporting the young parent in making positive changes for themselves and their baby. By focusing on their strengths, FNP enables young parents to learn how to:

  • develop a good relationship with their child and understand their child’s needs
  • make choices that will give their child the best possible start in life
  • believe in themselves
  • mirror the positive relationship they have with their family nurse with others

Wider determinants of health play a complex role in influencing future health and wellbeing outcomes. FNP has been shown to improve vulnerable children’s development, school readiness and early educational attainment. These improvements can in turn help influence better long-term health, wellbeing and economic outcomes.    

You can learn more about the evidence behind the programme in the ‘Impact of the FNP programme’ section below.

Innovation and development of the programme

The FNP programme in England has seen continued innovation, with adaptations tested and incorporated into the programme as improvements to the service delivery model.

The ADAPT (Accelerated Design and Programme Testing) project used rapid cycling testing to adapt, test and learn about the FNP programme in England.

More recently, some FNP teams have developed enhanced pathways for vulnerable parents who are not eligible for FNP. Some FNP teams have also developed young father-specific services, with one scheme in Swindon being commended at the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2024. In both cases, the FNP model supports good governance and enhanced clinical quality.     

Delivery of the programme

FNP is delivered under licence from the University of Colorado Denver. The FNP licence is held in England by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Licence requirements, including family nurse training and programme data collection and analysis, are delivered by the 0-19 Clinical Programmes Unit, Department of Health of Social Care (DHSC).

Impact of the FNP programme

Over 40 years of international evidence shows that the FNP programme can improve health, social and educational outcomes in the short, medium and long term.

What FNP graduates and their family nurses think of the FNP programme

FNP graduates in Plymouth and their family nurses describe the benefits of the programme in this video:

Inspiring stories from teenage mums helped by the Family Nurse Partnership programme

Vicki, a graduate from Plymouth FNP said:

I just don’t think I’d be here now if it wasn’t for the service. I come from quite a hard background - one of poverty. My family nurse got me out of being homeless and into a flat. She encouraged me to go back to college. Now I have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in literature and I’m currently doing a PhD.

Young parents and family nurses from Tameside also reflect on the FNP programme in this video:

Family Nurse Partnership programme

The evidence base for FNP

The Early Intervention Foundation Guidebook summarises the evidence base for FNP.

The FNP programme can help young, vulnerable, first-time parents to provide sensitive and responsive care for their children. This in turn enhances the quality of their child’s daily life and contributes to improved child development and school readiness. Achievement in school can have a positive life-long impact on health and wellbeing, and economic stability. This is a key factor in tackling health disparities and improving life chances.

How the programme helps local systems

Commissioning the FNP programme supports local systems to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities by providing a personalised response for those children and families facing the highest levels of vulnerability.

Where the FNP programme is delivered in England

The Family Nurse Partnership programme is delivered locally by FNP teams across England. Each local team is made up of FNP supervisors, family nurses and quality support officers.

Find your local FNP service

The FNP programme is delivered across England at the following locations:

Benefits of commissioning the FNP programme

Commissioning the Family Nurse Partnership programme helps deliver the 0 to 19 public health offer for children and young people as part of the healthy child programme.

Backed by 40 years of international support and evidence, as outlined in ‘Impact of the FNP programme’ above, FNP teams can support local systems to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities by working with young first-time parents and collaborating with health and care colleagues.

Debbie Watson, Director of Public Health at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, said:

One of the greatest pleasures of commissioning the Family Nurse Partnership programme is seeing all the young women who have graduated and how they have developed into confident and independent parents.  

The learning from the programme has allowed us to further develop our universal services to support young parents beyond graduation.

Read the full guidance to support the commissioning of the Family Nurse Partnership programme, which includes the model specification.

Monitoring and reporting

The FNP information system collects real-time data on delivery, client characteristics and programme outcomes. This enables strategic decision-making about service-planning and commissioning.

Building workforce capacity

FNP teams share learning and skills with the wider maternity and early years workforce. They contribute to service development by enhancing existing pathways or developing new ones for vulnerable families.

National support and training

The FNP in England is supported by the 0-19 Clinical Programmes Unit, part of DHSC. The 0-19 Clinical Programmes Unit provides to local authorities at no cost:

  • FNP training for nurses and supervisors, materials and ongoing clinical support
  • a comprehensive data and reporting system
  • quality assurance and improvement

Funding

The local authority funds the operational costs of an FNP team to deliver the service through the public health grant.

DHSC meets the programme licence cost in England and funds the 0-19 Clinical Programmes Unit.

Find out more about commissioning the FNP programme

To commission the FNP or for information about building workforce capacity in your system, email: 0-19clinicalprogrammesunit@dhsc.gov.uk.

Full guidance to support the commissioning of the Family Nurse Partnership programme, including the model specification, is also available.

Updates to this page

Published 18 July 2024

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