A question for any HVs among us..Have you got a time limit in which to call a parent if A&E have passed the childs details on to you?

[MARGOsBeenPlayingWithMyNooNoo]

My dd2 had an accident 10 days ago. She tripped on a stairgate and hit her head on a cabinet. The wound needed glueing. Anyway, I got a phonecall today from my health visitor.

We had a home visit the day after taking my dd1 to hospital. She was only 13 days old and I suppose being new parents, they had to ensure that we would take care of our dd.

They were different PCTs and of course, now it seems HV teams are being stretched to the extreme - are there any kind of guidelines which HV follow when it comes to accident follow-ups?

And you'll be glad to know dd2 is fine, picking happily at the scab at any given opportunity and I've moved the offending cabinet to somewhere safe.

Hi, my DS broke his leg 2 years ago, towards the end of November I think. The HV phoned us in January. I could barely remember the incident by then!
So 10 days sounds pretty good going by that experience...

oh blimey - that is a long time!

HV called us a month after one of DS's head injuries. She left a message on the answering machine: "Hello, this is X, DS's health visitor. I'm just calling because I gather DS had a head injury on... [noise of shuffling papers] err... [sounds flustered] oh, it was quite a while ago now... I hope everything's OK and do give me a call if I can help...".

Oh dear.

ha ha

the paperwork takes 10 days to reach the HVs from the hospital A&E department

i got a call the next day by peadiatric home care team to offer support

We had a very dramatic head injury with DS a year ago that required immediate ambulance, facial surgeon being called in etc etc.

Somewhat surprisingly we did not hear a peep from HV or similar. I was at the drs for something unrelated (for me) about 6 weeks later and asked him if he had been contacted and he said not.

So you may not necessarily get a call at all. I was resigned to getting one but nothing further happened.

I think what was sigmificant in our case was that Ds was older (6), able to give his own version of events (which was the same as ours), both parents were around/shaken/obviously not drunk etc and it was a slightly freaky accident that was clear where it had happened and it was not something particularly open to sinister interpretation. Someone obviously ticked the "freak accident/no further action" box in the paperwork, and that was that.

My HV never contacted me once, and dss were forever in & out of hospital with various illnesses, but not accidental injuries.

how weird
we have had many trips to a&e, broken leg, drinking aftershave, gashed head etc etc accross two different counties and NOT ONE follow up!

When my DS was about 18 months old we spent the whole day in A&E as he was limping badly but hadn't had a fall or anything like that. He had to have a hip scan and X-Rays, etc.. My DS is now 3.5 and I never heard from my HV.

Also when he was just under 12months old, he went into hospital for an op and I never heard from HV then either.

Anchovy -- if your DS was six then he wouldn't be under HV care any more anyway, presumably?

It's only been head injuries that happened at home that we've heard from the HV about, and even then they clearly aren't actually worried.

I have never had a follow up from HV.Sometimes i feel like i live in A&E with one or the other hurting themselves.The last time was with ds2 he was about 2.5yrs old.He fell off the sofa and knocked himself out.

No guidelines, its up to individual HV. We're so pushed now there's only time for a quick glance at A&E slip and put in filing tray. I can't remember the last time I contacted a parent about child accident. If something obviously worrying has slipped through the net I refer back to whoever saw child in A&E and point out its their responsibility to decide whether soc. services referral needed.
HV numbers have been drastically reduced to save money so we're struggling to do the basics like visits to families with children known to be at risk.

DS has been to hos[pital 3 or 4 times with various things and I've always been called by The HV to check all is ok.
Even on the occasions he was in hospital for having febril convulsions!

ds2 had 3 visits to a and e this time last year in the space of 4 months for 'pulled elbow' (bone jumps out of place). We were tld to get to a and e asap as it is easier to pop back in if it is done quickly
were also told that the more often it happens, the more likely it is to happen

We got a letter from our doctors practice manager around a month after the tihird incident suggesting that we were misusing a and e facilitiesd and listing other appropriate services eg a routine doctors appointment, out of hours gp, NHSdirect (ffs)

I rang her and it was a 'standard letter' but anyone with a modicum of sense who had bothered to read further than the first line of the letters from a and e would have realised we had gone to the right place

grrr

What do you think then Stripeysox? Do you think HVs should be given back the resources and time to check these accidents?

I appreciated how well looked after I was under my previous surgery and didn't realise how much contact I'd have with a MW/HV until I had a baby. I've seen my HV once in the last year now I've moved. Of course I've had much less support than my mum had when she had me and my siblings, but I've been thankful for whatever help they've offered me. Do you think the NHS will reduce HV support even further? It's all very sad.

DD fell down my front door step ---- No visit from HV

DD got her fingers slammed in door ---- No vist from HV

DS broke his arm ---No visit from HV

DD2 Fell and cut her nose open which needed glueing and still has a scar --- No visit from HV

Ds2 fell down the stairs at our old house when he was about a year old. He had a bump on his forehead, and a scrape on his nose, so we did go to A&E but were told he was Ok, and the HV rang us a couple of days later. She didn't come out though I think, just wanted to check we were Ok.

The worrying thing is I could easily have lied about it if I had needed to - felt guilty as it was, for leaving stairgate open. But I kind of expected him to 'do' the stairs at some point because ds1 did it a few times.
Now we have moved and have no stairs.

I think it would be a waste of resources for HVs to contact every parent who's child attends A&E. The new buzzword is Targetting, which means we're supposed to be foccussing on "vulnerable families". The problem is that we have so little contact with parents now routine development checks and home visits have been stopped (due to reduced HV numbers) that we don't know who's vulnerable and who isn't.