"Maternity ward 27 at Tameside "

My daughter in law had a difficult 22 hour labour and high forceps delivery at Tameside Hospital in early August. She and her husband were pleased with her care at this point, although difficult they felt they were kept informed and given every necessary care.

However when she went on to the ward, they were not given any ward orientation. She was not told who would be caring for her, she did not see anyone for more than 4 hours, she was not told where the toilets were or how the meals and drinks operated. The fire alarm went off and no one explained what was happening - new dad had to find nursing staff to ask if they should evacuate.

The night midwife, discovered that the baby had not fed for 12 hours and helped a plan to be put together. No one gave consistent advice for breast feeding. Although each care person had some skills, there was no continuity. The auxiliary nurse, an older lady during the day, was the most proficient with breast feeding advice.

I am concerned that this feedback should be treated seriously and lessons learned from this to make new parents less anxious and help make what could be a great place better.