"Almost a flawless experience"

My partner recently gave birth at Wishaw University hospital. 

Throughout the pregnancy, she had been under the care of Dr. Malcolm, Consultant Obstetrician. Every time we met with Dr. Malcolm, he was calm, reassuring and always happy to answer any questions. He always made my partner feel at ease. 

On two occasions, it was necessary for my partner to visit triage due to signs of possible complications. Each time, the midwives, nurses and doctors were all very helpful and caring.

My partner had elected to have a c-section. When it came time for the procedure, she was admitted to Wishaw in the days prior to allow preparation. Throughout this time, she was made to feel comfortable and any concerns were quickly addressed.

On the day of the procedure, my partner was looked after by a midwife named Moira. She also assisted me with what I had to do before the procedure. Moira was extremely professional and caring throughout. 

The c-section was performed by Dr. Malcolm, who had explained in advance exactly what would happen. We were both very happy with the work done by Dr. Malcolm, and our newborn was delivered safely with no complications from the surgery to either mother or baby. It was later highlighted to us by multiple midwives/nurses just how highly respected Dr. Malcolm is, which we can completely understand.

The aftercare was overall very good, although from around 3pm in the afternoon it was noticeable that the number of midwives and nurses available seemed to decrease, and those that were covering became slightly more overworked and in some cases, stressed with overall care standard going a bit downhill. 

Due to signs of a complication later on the day of the c-section, Consultant Dr Maharaj visited my partner and I on the ward, and he was also friendly and re-assuring, providing clear direction to the doctors and nurses regarding how to resolve the issue.

In the days where my partner remained in Wishaw, she was transferred between multiple wards which was not ideal as during COVID times, it exposed my partner, my child and I to close contact with many other patients and their partners. It may be worth reviewing this to ensure those (especially with underlying Immune conditions) are not bounced between multiple locations in a short time. Her summary was that wards 23 and 24 were good, ward 22 not so much. 

When it came to discharge,  everything fell down. The Obstetrician visited around 10am and said everything was good and my partner could leave as soon as the baby was checked by a Paediatrician. From this point, it took more than 8 hours for the Paediatrician to arrive. After hour 4, I attempted to contact the hospital on my partner's behalf as she called me in tears as no one would tell her what was happening or when. Those who I spoke to by phone could have rivalled Ryanair customer service in unhelpfulness, which surprised me massively considering how great things had been until this point. 

Due to the above, I decided to go to the hospital even though  it was unclear when my partner would be discharged. On arrival I asked a very nice midwife if I could speak to the Consultant Obstetrician to find out what was happening, which she proceeded to arrange. Prior to the Obstetrician arriving, the Paediatrician appeared. I'm not sure if this was a coincidence, or if something was done in the background by the Obstetrician as it was clear we were very unhappy by this stage. 

As everything was deemed to be fine by the Paediatrician, we were allowed to go home shortly thereafter. However, waiting in excess of 8 hours for this visit with no updates was unacceptable. 

Overall, the end to end experience was a positive one, with some small areas for improvement. 

Some of the staff who my partner has mentioned to thank are: Charlotte, Lucy, Gail M, Susan, Fiona and Collete, in addition to Jennifer from Neonatal, Michelle the Anaesthetist registrar, Katie, an Obstetric registrar and the two Auxiliary nurses - I only caught one of their names, Pam - these two ladies were among the most caring and helpful staff on the wards.