"Complaint- speech and language therapist"

This is regarding the Children’s Center services at the City Hospital Campus - Hucknall Road 

My son was referred to a speech and language therapist due to eating difficulties. The therapist was unhelpful from the start- just printing off advice from generic websites for us to use. They spent less than 20 min with my child not in an adequate setting to find out feeding issues. They only gave one piece of advice to say "chew" to him when he eats.

After that initial visit- I had to beg for more help. My child was displaying extreme responses to food which included phobia behaviours and self harm. I asked the therapist on numerous times to come and witness his feeding at mealtimes but they said that mealtimes wouldn't work with their schedule.

I called on numerous occasions for help and it took over 2 weeks for them to get back in touch. When we finally did- the therapist offered very little support. They agreed to refer us to a feeding clinic for more support if he hadn't improved in a few months. He didn't improve and we were taken off the list with no access to the service & informed us they couldn't help us.

I begged the therapist to sign post us to somewhere else. Instead they contacted social services and made allegations that I was starving my child, I was making up the disorder and I myself have an eating disorder. They had no evidence of this & is not an adult mental health professional and the remarks are slander. There was no research done or watched him at mealtimes at home.

Thankfully- social services and all other professionals have been outraged by these allegations. My health visitor has witnessed him since birth struggle to feed. The social workers came and witnessed him and couldn't believe that a professional could turn the tables because it was so incredibly clear to see he has exactly what I said he had.

In The meantime my son has been diagnosed with a genetic disorder which explains the feeding problems. I felt the therapist we had allocated was out of their depth and I believe that they did this out of spite as I told them that I believed my child was being failed. No good piece of advice was offered within time frame. I feel my son was failed and he's suffered because of lack of experience and ego.