"Left feeling worse"

Myself and my husband took our toddler to our Health Visitor (HV) as we suspected he has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). When we arrived although I had pre-booked the appointment, the HV was late and very unprepared.

They told me they had misplaced their notes and to be honest I felt she didn’t really listen to us.

I was shortly due back to work after maternity leave with my second child and when I told them, they advised that I could take 6 months off work sick and play table top games. That was their advice to me for my 2 year old sensory seeking autistic toddler.

We have since taken advice from other professionals who have advised us otherwise. I feel like we attended that appointment that day very anxious about our son and to be honest we left feeling worse.

Being told of cut backs in the health visiting team really was not reassuring as we knew we where about to start a very tough journey with our son, which is renowned for having to struggle to get help for.

I myself am a member of trust staff and have been for 10+ years.

I always advocate for the trust but to be honest there is no better words for my experience with this Health Visitor as confused and scared.