Text size

Theme

Language

"My daughter not being admitted to neonatal unit after she was born"

About: The Ulster Hospital / Maternity The Ulster Hospital / Neonatal The Ulster Hospital / Paediatric Inpatient Ward

(as a parent/guardian),

My partner has hsv 1 and was on treatment for 9 weeks before birth of my daughter, had no active lesions and was put down on her records to have a primary infection. My partner had her waters broke before the birth of my child but ended up having to go in for an emergency c section. After the operation, 2 days went past before she was discharged and we got home, near enough an hour later got a call from the Maynard Sinclair ward to tell me that my daughter should of been put into the neonatal unit soon after birth but because she was discharged she needed to be admitted to the Maynard Sinclair ward to be treated with an iv of acyclovir.

After 7 attempts at getting her line in and also 3 attempts that night at a lumber puncture, I was quite irritated already but I allowed the treatment to go on, next day another 3 attempted lumber punctures and after that me and my partner weren’t gonna consent to another one on the basis that our child had already got blood tests and swabs done, we continued the treatment for 6 days until her blood cultures and 4 swabs came back negative and her line came out of her vain during one of her last treatments and put her in extreme pain due to the acyclovir going into her leg. So we came back the next day to get her discharged and if the other two tests came back positive we would bring her back.

One of the workers on the Maynard Sinclair ward I found to be extremely unprofessional and made presumptions that I’ve never experienced a child with herpes simplex, when their job was to tell me the risks and that’s it. Not speak down to me and tell me what I have and haven’t experienced in my life just because in their words I’ve never worked in neonatal. In the end, my child was discharged and got a call the next day to say her 2 last tests were negative so we were putting her though unnecessary pain because of the negligence and incompetence of the maternity ward not putting my child into neonatal straight away.

I’ve had 3 complaints

1, the neonatal and the maternity ward should of admitted my child straight away and all this stress would have been avoided 

2, one of the midwife’s on the night shift denied to help my partner with the child in the maternity ward after she was just though a c section and could hardly stand and just needed a hand with the child’s nappy but said no they were needed elsewhere, 

3, The nurse at the Maynard Sinclair ward with their extremely unprofessional way they discussed my daughters care with me and that they should never presume anyone hasn’t seen a child with herpes simplex just because they don’t work in the neonatal unit, 

I may add that yes I was irritated through out the whole experience but the nurses in the Maynard ward were extremely lovely and welcoming and couldn’t have dealt nicer people.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Karen Orr, Interim Lead Nurse, Woman & Acute Child Health, South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust nearly 2 years ago
Karen Orr
Interim Lead Nurse, Woman & Acute Child Health,
South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust
Submitted on 26/07/2023 at 11:45
Published on Care Opinion at 11:59


Dear Cody986

On behalf of Neonatal Unit, Maternity and Paediatrics, thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience at our hospital. I am so glad I was able to speak with you this morning and I assure you that all issues you have identified above will be investigated fully and another response will be made here once that investigation is complete.

As I explained to you earlier it is so important that we hear from our patients and families, as we always want to ensure we are delivering compassionate high quality care; I am sorry that this does not seem to have been your experience. I am, however, delighted that you have clarified that the nursing staff on Maynard Sinclair Ward were very kind, caring and compassionate - this is absolutely what we expect from our staff.

I am delighted that mummy and baby are doing well and you are enjoying fatherhood, I'm sure she is the apple of your eye!

Again, many thanks for sharing.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k