"A lack of support and guidance"

I recently had the unfortunate experience of needing to use the EPAS service (early pregnancy assessment service) due to bleeding during the early weeks of my pregnancy. While the staff that I dealt with were lovely I really felt that the service offered was not enough to offer adequate support. 

Having been seen at A&E they were unable to offer any reassurance and I was referred on to the EPAS unit. I heard back the next day but had to wait 3 day to be seen. This was an extremely anxious time for my partner and I and we really felt a lack of support and guidance was available.

The service is open from 8-4 but phone lines shut at 15:30. Outwith this time there was no one to call or talk issues through and when I did call it went to answer phone every time. Phone calls were generally returned in fairness but it really doesn't help the anxiety when you have to leave a message and rely on someone picking it up and hope that they call you back soon. 

Unfortunately we went on to lose our pregnancy and we can't fault the staff on their approach during this time, however once again the service let us down. The options for management were explained and we went back and forth making a decision. Having finally decided to go for surgical management to avoid it happening naturally at home with no control over it, we called to make arrangements only to be told that we had a 5 day wait for it. I can't explain how awful it is to have to wait 5 whole days hoping that the process doesn't start naturally, feeling anxious and scared with no one available to help or reassure us.

Thankfully we made it to the date and collected the pre meds the day before. We got no explanation of the common side effects of the drugs or what to expect after taking them. My hands burned, I got cramps, my tongue hurt and I was nauseous. I opened the packaging expecting to find an information leaflet about the side effects but it hadn't been supplied. I tried calling the unit but there was no answer. Once again I was worried and there was no support available. This was our common theme throughout our experience. 

I would like to reiterate that we don't blame the staff we were dealing without at all. They were all lovely and treated us with empathy and respect throughout. They work within the limitations of the service they work within. Working in health myself I understand how frustrating this can be and realise that change is rarely made with issues being escalated. Our hope is that by sharing our experience on this platform we can raise awareness and hopefully the service can be improved so that future service users don't need to have the same anxiety ridden experience that we had.