"Shocking Treatment by Health Visiting Team"

My review concerns the health visiting team. I was initially happy to let the health visitor assigned to me and my son into my home. However, after a year, I felt that their services were no longer required.

I am college educated and yet the health visitor would offer suggestions like, 'Don't let your son eat too much sugar', and 'Make sure you brush his teeth regularly.' I found this condescending and upsetting, yet I nodded and smiled as I didn't want to make the HV feel awkward. Then, I began to feel increasingly 'monitored' by the HV after splitting from my partner.

At first, they said my son was 'very behind' with his speech and would need referral to the speech therapist. This was the first I'd heard as his nursery and our doctor were not concerned. However, I went along with the referral.

When the HV's colleague came to drop the referral letter to me, i was having a late start. I then got several phone calls from the HV, and although i tried to return the calls, there was no answer and no voicemail. Sure enough a few days later, the HV turns up at my door, and begins to interrogate me as to why I was having a late start when their colleague came over.

I explained I was having a stressful time with my separation, and had been assaulted by him, and was therefore in the process of seeking an injunction. I showed the person the bruise he left on my arm, and they sympathised with me about the domestic violence. However, a few weeks later when I asked the health visitor for a letter confirming what I had told them about the domestic violence, they acted very flustered, and confused and said it would cost me £65 per hour.

They also said I could not request the letter. At this point, I suspected that they thought I was lying about what had happened to me, so I could get legal aid. It got to the point where I had to involve their manager, and finally I was offered a letter if I paid £32.50, which I did. Of course, the letter sent to me was not in the format required by Legal Aid, and so the request was declined. I believe the HV and their manager knew this would be the case, as they had hinted as such. While they have not directly called me a liar, this is the implication as they have still not provided the letter to me in the correct format, and so this is the only conclusion that can be drawn.

Of course, I no longer feel comfortable having this or any other health visitor involved with me or my son, and will be writing to them to tell them so. I only hope other women in Plymouth are not getting the same treatment - being made to feel like inadequate parents and even liars and criminals - when they are actually victims of domestic abuse or worse. I feel there is a worrying culture of not believing women, and lack of accountability of its practitioners, in the NHS. I also feel once you are tarred with a certain brush, you are not believed. I feel this is down to social stereotyping, and general unconscious or conscious bias toward low income women.