health visitor absolutely appaling

[superdad1985]

First off a big hi to everyone, My DS (20 months) has been referred to the local hospitals child developmental centre after me and my partner raised our worries to her and she had made some observations herself, even though she could not give us a formal diagnosis she agreed that he is showing a lot of traits of asd and possibly adhd, that being said our health visitor who never bothered to turn up for my sons 12 month review has turned up unannounced at our home, which i feel is bad manners but to be frank i could'nt care less as we have nothing to hide, however i do have an issue with the fact that she has called the child development centre and cancelled our appointment and sent us out these 20 month review forms for our son, i suspect to make it look like she has actually done her job when nothing could be farther from the truth, the sheer audacity of the woman has left me in a state of apoplectic rage, that she is risking my son getting the care that he needs as quckly as possible just so she does'nt get into trouble, we have already discussed the matter with our doctor and we even completed the mchat assesment which stated he was at high risk, I am going to make another appointment with the doctor and get her to contact the child development centre as despite multiple emails they will not contact me, I assume on orders from the (pathetic excuse of a human being nevermind) health visitor, looking for some advice on how you would deal with this situation, thanks in advance.

 

[superdad1985]

i mean reffered by our gp.

 

[superdad1985]

also my partner is currently pregnant with our second child and i feel that the unnecessary stress from this is hardly good for her or the baby.

 

[Eternal]

Where are you? There are lots of charities and organisations that can give you help and advise.

These processes vary greatly from area to area, I know my son needed his health visitor assessment before the Ruth Griffiths assessment, so it could be as simple as they need the base information first before the more in depth one.

 

[mummy2o]

You could also make an official complaint at your gp about your health visitor and according the size of you area request a new one. I live in a big city though and have several health visitors per gp surgery. I don't think the stress will cause many issues if she's past 12 weeks. I've had a fair share over this pregnancy, mainly to do with DS's schooling and baby is completely perfect and average. Just make sure she gets to put her feet up whenever possible.

 

[sequeena]

I would be furious and go back to your GP to make a complaint (and another referral) or even ring the development team themselves to see if they're able to make an appointment.

Like Eternal my son was referred to his pediatrician (who does the RG tests) by our HV. If I were you I'd request another HV too.

 

[Annie77]

Contact your health partnership and put in a formal complaint to the nurse manager who oversees the health visiting team. Insist in your letter that your appointment is reinstated or another one made at the soonest opportunity.
It sounds to me as HV is unhappy that you have bypassed her and went straight to GP with the issue. It is very bad practice to miss the 12 month appt (if they are carried out in your area as not all areas do these) & also unacceptable that she cancelled an appt which had nothing to do with her.

THe role of HV is changing in many areas - in my area they see babies 10 days after birth, when they get their 2nd injections and then only for MMR immunisations UNLESS they are on child protection. You can take babies to the clinic to weigh them but if you have worries then it is up to you to ask for a review or check up. It's sad that babies and toddlers are not getting development checks they used to 10years ago due to the time needed to deal with vulnerable children at risk.