"Feeling Forgotten About..."

Since my wife went into labour 11 months ago, on the whole, we have been very lucky with the standard of care and the compassion shown from our NHS in Scotland. The care and staff in Ninewells were nothing short of fantastic, the GP support from Glover Street - Victoria Practice, for what was quite a challenging first 6 months, was excellent and our local pharmacy in Scone have just been wonderful. Our little one was quite a collicy baby and had some nasty reflux, so having this kind of support was really appreciated, particularly as we are new parents.

However, we have become increasingly frustrated with the Health Visitor Service and now feel like we have been forgotten. Firstly, I would just like to be clear about my intentions in putting this post up. Myself and my wife do not wish for this feedback to be taken as feedback about an individual but, feedback on the system and process(s). The gut feeling from both of us is that whilst individual/human error may contribute to some of the negative feedback, it is the system that is failing to recognise and address the key issues.

During the first few visits it was quite evident that there was a lack of knowledge about my wife and little one. Various comments and specific questions were asked that did not sit in line with our choice/history of care. For example: my wife was asked about a C-Section scar when it was a natural birth she had; during more than one visit, by the same Health Visitor, my wife was asked about how the bottle feeding was going when our little one was an EBF baby. This lack of simple preparation made the visit feel impersonal and unimportant.

During the first few visits there were rearranging of times/dates on a couple of occasions. Whilst these are understandable to a point, they can be a little frustrating, particularly when one person takes a day off work to be there. There was also one occasion that the Health Visitor went to the wrong baby who shared our little ones christian name thinking it was them that they were booked to see. When we called to request information as to why the Health Visitor had not turned up, we received an apology saying that this was not the first time this had happened.

In terms of advice given and checks done, the guidelines seem to be quite clear for parents in respect of what to expect. During our visits the only checks that were done was measurement of length and weight. To the best of our knowledge, unless other checks were done in a subtle almost non-inclusive manner, there were no developmental checks done eg eyes following an item etc. We were also left feeling quite confused around some of the advice given which clearly contradicted advice on the NHS website. (An example was in respect to the Health Visitor instructing us to give an EBF baby water before she was 6 months old and the website says against this.)

Most recently, we were meant to be seen on a day in May 2019. My wife received a phone call the day before stating that due to staffing issues it would need to be postponed and she would receive a phone call the following week to re-arrange. We did not receive said phone call. My wife and I deliberated for a while thinking that it must just be very busy and we did not want to seem like pests. We did decided to follow it up last week where we were instructed to leave a voicemail as there was nobody available. Our phone call has still not been returned. To be clear, we have not had a visit now since mid January when our little one was 4 and a half months old. We also did not receive our 6 month phone call which we were told we would get to support us with and check on the weaning.

We feel very lucky to have our little one and it would appear to us that all is going well. However we are no experts and it is important that each family receives the expected care that is considered "the minimum". During visits it was clear that the Health Visitor felt our little one was doing well and we both appreciate that there are families who may require more support than ourselves. However, we feel let down by the Service and it feels like we are not important.

I would ask that the systems in use here are considered and the support that this Health Visitor is given is reviewed. The understaffing of NHS services is well known and I suspect it is not within anyones power here to fix that. But there are basic errors in play here and they are addressable. I would argue that the vast majority of patients under the care of a Health Visitor could be considered vulnerable.