I live in Hull and have recently been sent a questionnaire through the post for my child's 3-4 year check. I feel that the questionnaire serves no purpose. There are no guidelines as to what your child should be doing, just a series of yes/no questions that could easily be falsified. I think that a parent will not openly admit that their child struggles unless they are considerably behind. My child can do far more than count to 20 and draw a person with no body as the questionnaire asks. They can count to 100 with a bit of help with the multiples of 10 and count to 20 in Spanish. They can draw a person with a body, arms, legs, ears, nose and hair in the right place and has been able to since before they turned three. I feel that the questionnaire has no interest in how well your child is actually doing, and the majority of parents I know would have no hesitation in marking yes if they thought their child 'wasn't far off'.
I've read a response to a post similar and quite frankly I find the response rubbish. I think it is nothing more than a cost saving exercise (which I appreciate needs to be done), and is especially disappointing given how intensely watched parents are when their children are small. It feels as though their care beyond a point is inconsequential, but the HV needs to tick a box so a questionnaire in the post is the cheapest option. My health visitor asked me 3 times if I was a victim of domestic violence, I found it insulting, as did my partner who was obviously busy in the kitchen making them a cup of tea when the questions were posed. I felt they were rude and belittled me for choosing to stop breastfeeding after 8 weeks because my body simply wouldn't provide milk for my child.
I think that some health visitors can be so intense in their scrutiny that they make some parents feel uncomfortable, to the point where another friend of mine has a child who is so skinny and their mum is concerned, however she's too worried that she'll be made to feel like a bad mum to seek advice from her HV. Absolutely counterproductive. Her saving grace is that she now won't need to worry about being made to feel like a bad mum, because all she has to do is fill in a piece of paper and pay for postage at the next stage.
I think this is appalling "care".
"Age 3-4 health visitor check"
About: City Health Care Partnership CIC / Health visiting City Health Care Partnership CIC Health visiting
Posted by misspickle (as ),
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