Breach of confidentiality. Long, sorry.

[TheCunkOfPhilomena]

I am hoping for some advice as to where I go next please.

Back story:
XP and I separated in Nov 12, we have one DC almost 3 yo.

In the summer of 2013 he was extremely aggressive towards me whilst I was holding our son. I had asked him to leave the house on numerous occasions beforehand but he refused to do so.

I called the police after the incident to ask for advice if it were to happen again (he is a very angry man and I was very frightened).

The police were very helpful and I followed their instructions about having third party handovers and to have access agreed in writing.

The police informed SS about the incident and they wrote to me to say they would be informing my local HV service about the matter.

Now, XP's mother is a HV in my area and I was scared that she would find out about the fact I had reported things to the police and tell XP. I didn't want XP to know as I thought it would just make a tense situation worse and I had no plans to press charges.

I spoke to a woman 'Ms X' at the HV team and she assured me that this wouldn't happen.

I was then told by my own HV that Ms X had, after my call, telephoned XP's mother and told her what had happened. I was so shocked and upset, why the bloody hell would she do this? XP's mother had then cornered my HV to tell her that she knew but not to worry as she had straightened things out (WTF?!).

I made an official complaint through PALS and was told that there was an internal inquiry going on about it. I received a letter from the Chief Exec apologising profusely but without saying what had actually happened or what had happened as a result to prevent it from happening again.

I called PALS again and told them how this hadn't answered my questions and that I wanted more clarity and specifics.

Today I received a further letter from the Chief Exec along the same lines; admitting there had been a breach of confidentiality and an apology but not saying what had happened or what they were doing to prevent it from happening again.

I am not looking for anything more than a full admittance of what happened, who was involved and what actions have been taken as a result. I do not know what to do now, I feel powerless.

Any advice gratefully received!

Thank you catcatcat, sorry for the delay in replying, I also posted in Chat as I thought it'd get more traffic there.

My HV advised me about how to make a complaint but I will check out the NHS choices site. All the letter from the chief exec says is to contact the complaints dept if I am not satisfied. I really feel fobbed off.

The breech is unprofessional and you would be within your rights to raise your complaint with the Nmc if you felt that you wanted to.It could well mean that the health visitor could be struck off and not be able to practice as a nurse again.But is Mrs X a nurse or admin person because the Nmc would not be able to handle non registered nurses.Eitherway it's a real pity that this happens and calls the proffesionals into disrepute.
You could ask to have an appointment with the health visitor team leader who may be forthcoming.

Note that the Chief Exec cannot tell you about any disciplinary action that may have been taken against the individuals involved.

What a terrible thing to have happened however the disciplinary measures that they have taken against this person will be confidential so unfortunately you will never been given exact information only that they have been disciplined

I reported my HV for 2 breaches of confidentiality, she told my childminder I was pregnant! Even though I had an independent witness she denied it and was put down to my word against hers...

Sorry I don't have much faith in the system and in the end I couldn't be bothered to take it further. I really hope she learnt her lesson and did start thinking before opening her mouth from then on, which I guess was what I wanted to achieve.

Report her to the NMC. She has completely broken the code of conduct.

It's disgraceful behaviour. Hope you are ok OP.

Thank you for your replies, I am so cross and a still a bit frightened as I still don't know if XP knows about this.

A poster on the thread in Chat has written a brilliant letter which I am going to use (changing small points) and contact my MP I think.