"Lack of attention and empathy"

I had to attend maternity triage at RAH Paisley for some unexpected bleeding in the second trimester of pregnancy. I was looked after the Early Pregnancy Unit earlier, but this bleed happened during the weekend when EPU are closed.

It seemed like the triage was busy, but after waiting maybe half an hour they called me into the assessment room. I was quickly attended to by the midwife who was quick at doing various tests and asking some questions. Then it turned out that I had to wait for an examination by a doctor and this doctor was in operating theatre. This was ok, as I understood that there were emergencies happening. I was advised that the doctor might be very rushed, so it's best if I undress from the waist down and cover myself with a sheet to wait so the examination can happen quickly. I thought it was ok, but by the time the wait exceeded two hours, this felt like a fairly undignified position to be in with random people coming in into the room to look for bits of equipment, to offer us toast (appreciated), and to inform us that the doctor was still in the theatre.

Then two hours later two people I haven't met yet rush into the room and immediately start preparing examination equipment, with very little acknowledgement of me in the room. Then finally one of them says quietly that they are the doctor (and the name, which I didn't hear), so I assumed another one must have been a midwife or a nurse. The examination is very quick, we are told that they couldn't see any issues and to call back if there is more bleeding. The nurse (midwife?) then tells me they will order anti-d for tomorrow and I am to attend to get this injection.

The following morning I get the phone call from EPU saying they are a bit confused why triage had ordered anti-d and told me to come in, as I had received it only a few days earlier and this covers me for 6 weeks time even with repeated bleeds. So I had to cancel various complex arrangements for childcare that I put in place for this appointment.

The bottom line of this experience is that at triage clearly no one looked at my notes or listened to me properly, or the communication got lost in between different staff members.

What was most difficult was that not a single person we met had acknowledged that we are in a distressing situation and might be nervous or scared, especially after the history of repeat misscarriage. There was little empathy or personal approach. The doctor, sadly, was the most difficult to deal with- very little explanations, very little attention, and then obvisouly mistakes were made about the administering of anti-d. A sentence to acknowledge the patient is a human in a distressing (and somewhat humiliating) situation would have been enough.

This experience stands in stark contrast with my repeat experiences at EPU- where every single person I dealt with had been warm, supporting, encouraging, informative and in general just great, even during some of the hardest days of my life losing pregnancies.

This experience, and learning that the Midwife Led Unit at RAH is now closed, made me very apprehensive of coming to RAH to give birth. I felt scared and vulnerable, and this will take time to process.