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Admin error causing upset after miscarriage

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"Admin error causing upset after miscarriage"

About: Royal Hallamshire Hospital / Maternity care

Antenatal scan found 9 week foetus, as expected. Plus a haematoma. Bleeding that evening became a miscarriage, confirmed by the early pregnancy unit. The EPU assured me all scans would be cancelled. This would include a 12 week scan to test for issues that weren't visible at 9 weeks, plus the later 20 week scan.

A week later, I received an appointment for my 20 week scan. Unfortunately the number to cancel appointments is only available during work hours and I have a job which makes it difficult to pop outside and make calls of an upsetting and personal nature.

I accept that the scan letter is an unfortunate admin error, although I found it devastating. My request is that the 20 week scan letter includes a sentence about if the scan is no longer appropriate, for those who do miscarry, and an easy way for them to cancel the appointment, without having to verbally explain about the miscarriage. This would have made the impact of the letter significantly less upsetting.

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Responses

Response from Deborah Hopkinson, Patient Experience Co-ordinator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Deborah Hopkinson
Patient Experience Co-ordinator,
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 09/06/2017 at 09:50
Published on Care Opinion at 11:59

Dear Service User

I am really sorry to learn about your miscarriage and that you then received an appointment letter, I can appreciate how upsetting you must have felt by these events.

Your comments will be passed on to the service as feedback and for consideration. Thank you for providing your comments at a difficult time.

Kind regards and best wishes.

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Response from Deborah Hopkinson, Patient Experience Co-ordinator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Deborah Hopkinson
Patient Experience Co-ordinator,
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 13/06/2017 at 09:12
Published on Care Opinion at 12:32

I have referred your comments to the Jessop Wing who were very sorry to learn about the upset caused to you by this error at this difficult time.

They have advised that the system they have in place is that following any scan taken within EPAU confirming a miscarriage, the system should automatically close down the pregnancy, cancel any further appointments, notify your community midwife and ensure no further appointment letters are sent out.

If you feel able to, they would very much like you to contact the Unit to discuss exactly what took place in your personal experience. This would allow the Unit to review your case and work out what went wrong.

To this end please could you contact

Mrs Jackie White

Maternity Patient Experience Co-Ordinator

The Jessop Wing

Tel: 0114 226 8407

Thank you.

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