Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

Original poster

if DH refuses to allow an unannounced health visitor into our house?

21 replies

Panyanpickle77 · 21/03/2007 11:55

About half an hour ago a lady turned up at my door and said she had come from our doctors surgery to check on me and ds (19mnths). DH answered the door (I was clearing dog poo from the back garden....lucky me) and was a little shocked at this unannounced visit, and basically asked what it was for. She said she was visiting to welcome me a ds to her area, and to check we had settled (we have lived here for 5 years!!!!!!), and said if it was inconvenient she could call back. DH said it was inconvenient, and asked her to call back tomorrow at 1pm. She did not really give any useful info, and I was VERY surprised when dh came to tell me about it. I called our gp and was advised that they do not send anyone out unannounced, and that maybe she was a health visitor (maybe she should have told DH this useful info). I called the HV number which gp had supplied but only got answerphone, so i called my usual health clinic. The lady at the ususal clinic was really nice, and explained that because we had changed gp in October (old gp retired) that we also changed HV. I am now awaiting a call back from my usual clinic, to confirm who the lady was (she offered no i.d or number to call)and am no longer as concerned as I was, but I just wanted to know what other people thought of this unannounced visitor

OP posts:

GameGirly · 21/03/2007 11:56

Dodgy. Your DH was right not to let her in, IMO. And you did well to check her out. Most odd - and rather rude, if she's for real.

katzg · 21/03/2007 11:56

very strange, find out ASAP if legit and if not then phone police.

Health visitors in my experience always forewarn of a visit.

fryalot · 21/03/2007 11:57

very odd.

Nikki76 · 21/03/2007 11:58

I think DH did totally the right thing - all my HV arranged in advance when they were coming and if a different one was due to turn up, the existing health visitor would say so and so is coming instead and her name is etc etc and I always checked ID...you can never be too careful these days and I've heard stories of bogus health visitors before. Always best to err on side of caution imo!

BizzyDint · 21/03/2007 12:01

you did the right thing. i'd have turned her away even if i knew she was genuine.

BigCookLittleCook · 21/03/2007 12:01

Definitely sounds dodgy. Also good to mention it on here as I am the kind of perso who just says "oh yes, come on in" without thinking about it and having read this it will make me more wary, even if your "HV" was legit.

Flower3554 · 21/03/2007 12:02

I agree thats odd. I always get either a phone call or a card in the post when my HV is planning a visit. When she was off sick for a few months last year her stand-in rang me and suggested a visit and told me to ring the surgery to verify who she was.

I would agree that the police should be contacted if this can't be verified. There have been stories in the press about weirdo's posing as HV's or social workers before.

Edmond · 21/03/2007 12:02

did she have any id on her?

Hillary · 21/03/2007 12:08

My HV kept popping in un-announced all the time when I moved to my new area, No reason just kept turning up to see how we were getting on (I have 2 dd's so not unexperienced, done it all before & have no need for bloody HV's) She was just annoying, couldn't shake her off, in the end I just didn't answer the door or her calls.

I hate anyone comming un-anounced like because you're a SAHM you have all the time in the world I have a note on my door now saying 'opened by appointment only'

lulumama · 21/03/2007 12:09

if she is a genuine HV, which i would hope she is, rather than a random person, she should realise that she needs to hold ID and present it before expecting to be allowed in.....

LowFatMilkshake · 21/03/2007 12:11

HV's can be annoying, but ours always phones before a visit and they were great at letting me know they were there for us when DS was discharged from hospital. But they never ever come with out a phone call at the least!

Original poster

Panyanpickle77 · 21/03/2007 12:29

dh said she had a laminated id card which she didn't offer to show him, and she did not say who she was. She offered to call back tomorrow at 1pm. The thing that worried me was the fact she just turned up. I understand that there may be cross wires via my old HV and new HV as we did change surgery, and therefore HV, but I would expect that they may have done there homework and found that we are not new to area, but have just change GP. My GP surgery have just called to check if we have foundout who she was! Dh said she was very friendly, and was carrying a changing mat, but it still worries me that she was unnannounced.

OP posts:

RTKangaMummy · 21/03/2007 12:30

I think it is dodgy

Why doesn't she have a neck id badge thingy on?

And anyway - still think she should make an appointment as someone could forge an ID badge

Glad DH didn't let her in

Original poster

Panyanpickle77 · 21/03/2007 12:33

Its not like we recently changed surgery, it was at the start of october 2006, so it seems a little late for a welcome to the surgery party for me and ds. I did speculate if it was to do with me still BFing ds......maybe she things I'm a weirdo lol

OP posts:

staceym11 · 21/03/2007 12:36

i did have an unnannounced visit from a hv at my mums (didnt change care during pg when we moved and somehow they didnt know we'd moved), she was legit and acctually didnt coem in as we had already had hv visits well before.

but ds was newborn and they couldnt get hold of me on contact number so i suppose to turn up is all they can do!

think your dh is right for not letting her in tho, esp without id!

Original poster

Panyanpickle77 · 21/03/2007 12:47

All is settled!!!!!!!!!! Apparently she was from the new HV team at the new health centre we are due to attend. She says she did offer to show DH her id card but he was doing something (getting ready for work!!!!!). They would usually telephone to arrange a visit, but the old HV forgot to include my telephone number on the information card. I am now calm, and no longer fear someone is about to steal my DS lol! (I strill think they could have written to us if they wanted to arrange a call!)

OP posts:

staceym11 · 21/03/2007 12:55

glad it is sorted!

twobabies · 21/03/2007 14:15

If you think that's strange then listen to this, my new HV had an appointment with me last week and just didn't bother to attend no call no nothing. I left a mardy message on her machine because I had cancelled something for the morning just to see her. Anyway a week later I get a call from my bil who also lives next door telling me that he has just seen a woman coming out of my front door. When he asked who she was she said that she was the new hv and had come to see me, he asked what she was doing in the house when there was nobody home and she said the door was open so she had just knocked and gone in . Anyway I don't think I had left the front door open and thought it was very weird, was also quite embarrased as my living room was in a tip .....

powder28 · 21/03/2007 14:19

Whenever a health visitor has been to my house we knew she was coming and they always have an id card.
Its a long time from October for an hv to be welcoming you to her area

powder28 · 21/03/2007 14:22

oh have just read thread! Thats a relief

bootsobe · 24/08/2007 19:50

Hi ya
I work as a health visitor and always tell the families to insist on ID and even ring the local Primary care Trust to check and if things didnt add up then to ring the police. I have had people impersonating me.
As health visitors we are the last to know if telephone numbers and addresses have changed. And sometimes we dont have the Gp details and then even if we do their info can often be out of date as well. When we then send letters most of the people never respond to us. So we end up knocking on the doors to at least arrange an appointment at a more convienent time. The main thing is that its quite alright to refuse access especially if its inconvienient. But the main thing is please check the ID and feel free to double check with your local Primary Care Trust.
We have a percentage of mothers just like the ones on this website who are sensible and would have the decency to respond to a letter or return a telephone call. But we have many who dont in fact( for most of us in the area that I work if someone did respond to our letter we would be over the moon)
I come across many families who we discover accidently who have been living locally for a while without our knowledge. The GP system and HV system is not linked together. Plus we in many areas now we are NOT whats called GP attached but instead work in areas covering all the clients in one area regardless of their GP.
I think my main concern is why she turned up with a changing mat. ????

Thats a little bizzare

Also please please complain if your HV doesnt turn up.
It really angers me when they dont and shows the utmost rudeness and disrespect. No one has to put up with that kind of nonsense. There are some that do it all the time and it would be fantastic if families could start writing in to complain about it. As often these same individuals are lacking at every level.

Within the nHS like other organisations if it isnt written down as a complaint from a client then it never happened.

bye for now

Flip

Swipe left for the next trending thread