omg health vistor!!!!

[Mummytotwox]

do you all remember awhile ago, health vistor turned up without an appointment. anyway i saw her and she said she is going to asses ds, but as hes 4 she doesnt normally do it. she asked me what days are best for her to come round, and i told her ds is at nursery on weds and thursday. all okay. she left a form for me to fill in.

anyway, few weeks later she turned up on a weds to asses ds, without an appointment, told her ds was not here. she gave me a date after xmas that she was going to come, soemthing like 3rd jan.

For some reason i completely forgot about the appointment! i missed her coming to the house, due to me and my babies at the park.

today i have recieved a really snotty text!!

"bring ds and the completed form to the health centre on friday 17th jan at 10am, if you do not attend this appointment it would be policy to inform childrens social care. health vistor"

now, my husband has thrown completed form away by mistake! and i feel like a twat asking for a new one.

i felt that text was really snotty :(

Why does the HV want to see DS? What sort of assessment?

She must think hes at risk?

None of the above is usual, at least not in my experience. I regularly cancelled HV vists.

for his speech x

Is childrens social care the same as social services?

its nothign major, she was a new health vistor introducing herself the first time, i mentioned i was worried about him starting school because hes still babyish, he has global development delay. he had speech therapy, but it stopped for a few months as women had left. he has to be reassed to be put back on the list.

Ahhh yes I can see from her POV that you could be appearing to be not engaging with the support and help available.

Oh dear.

Anyway, do ring her asap, get the ball rolling again.

Give her a ring. Make another appointment. Take control of the situation. Don't be bullied by a jobsworth HV.

id give her some feedback to use for her professional feedback.

Threatening texts about social care arent the best way to get people to engage and build a good relationship

*professional development

Text her back 'please can you put another form in the post'

HV is clearly not a people person. That text really wont get people on side'

Or arrange to arrive early to fill the form out again but ask her to leave the form at reception for collection.

I would make a compliant about that text to her manager tbh. It's actually quite threatening.

Ou are under no obligation at all to engage with a HV even if additional needs are involved.

"Is childrens social care the same as social services?"

No, it's Community Health Services such as S&L, physiotherapy, the sorts of services that at this age, can be a self referral.

I agree to just get this cleared up, but I would take the support being offered, S&L is a nightmare and so under funded, any help to get "in the system" should be taken.

I work for Children's Social Care, yes we are the same as Social Services.

Sorry birds but social care is the same thing as social services.
Therapy is provided by NHS and is grossly underfunded as mentioned. Making you get another referral /assessment is a common waiting list management strategy I'm afraid.

I would also find the text rather threatening and feed that back to the health visitor if it were me, but then I work in a related area so would be confident bolshy enough to do so.

My HV got all nervous (think she was new) lobbed a mouldy apple across my living room that broke the ice a bit

I'd request a different health visitor, threatening you by text is unacceptable

Maybe she could have phrased it better but if she hasnt had access to your child on a few occassions then there is probably a policy in place that says she has to refer on. This is due to many high profile cases where avoiding HV, social workers etc was a common occurrence. Its a safeguarding issue not necessarily her being a jobsworth.

If you are seeing the GP/child health clinic on a regular basis I'd write and tell her that you are very sorry you have not been at home on days when she had already been informed that your child was at nursery. I'd then apologise for missing her appointment and say that if you have any health concerns you'll see your GP. Then I'd decline her service, reminding her that isn't compulsory and raising a child with disabilities is hard enough without being subjected to nasty threats. I'd copy the letter to her boss.

To cover my back I'd then phone the social services disability team, explain that my child attends regular nursery, sees the GP, has had all his shots etc, etc & that this newbie HV had threatened me with them. Ask them if they can refer you to the porterage scheme for your area.

If you have nothing to hide and your child is regularly being seen by the appropriate professionals her services are not needed. If your child has GDD, then the child porterage scheme in your area is more appropriate anyway as they have the specialist knowledge of how to get referrals to people like SALT, and respite care etc that you'll need.

HV's are just generalists not disability experts and use of their service is optional for everyone. I had a lovely lady who was really supportive, but if she'd been useless or spiteful I wouldn't have hesitated to get shot of her.

I don't see the threat. That looks boiler-plate to me. You missed an appointment, and were given a second one. If you miss that one, then it's policy to refer it on. Go to the next appointment, then change health visitors if need be.

Sounds like wrong ends of sticks have been gotten.

I disagree MBT.

I don't think it is necessary to used Childrens services as a way to seek engagement. The HV should have other skills to do that.

If they are making a referral after missed apt then yes send a letter informing that they have, explain why and they are happy to discuss. Professionals shouldn't be hiding behind Childrens Services.

HV could have rang on day of appt. Especially as it was after Christmas break and easily forgotten.

She should have called in unannounced.

She should also have checked that client still had form. Offered help with completion.

I think they just have a massive caseload so it's incredibly frustrating if someone just forgets an appointment.

Ours used to tell me she couldn't give an appointment time, only what day she'd stop by, and that I'd just need to wait in all day until she arrived. I told her that if she couldn't give me an approximate time, then she could take her chances on whether or not I was in. She got a bit nasty when she stopped in without warning on a day when there was no appointment or anything and was quite rude to DH because she was annoyed that I was out (with DS) for the day. Shame on me for trying to have a life. She told DH that I was only out because I was trying to avoid her - even though she admitted that she didn't have an appointment! (yeah, go figure out THAT logic! ) I contacted the surgery and told them I wanted no further contact from her. Ever.