"Poor covid measures to protect pregnant women"

When visiting the maternity clinic at Lanesborough wing I am always shocked at the waiting room and lack of Covid protective measures in place. Each time I’ve visited I wait on average for 1.5hrs in the overcrowded and unventilated room, due to overbooking. Patients and staff including midwives and doctors don’t wear their masks effectively (exposing nose/face) and are unsurprisingly disinterested with concerns when raised, which tells me nothing will change. Considering many of the women attending the clinic have complications or high risk pregnancies it is shocking that the protective measures are not being put in place, especially as we are very vulnerable in the 3rd trimester. I always dread the appointments and the whole ordeal is very stressful and frustrating as I and my husband essentially stay at home to protect myself and our unborn baby. The general culture at St George’s is very relaxed with Covid regulations, almost as if they are overwhelmed by everything and allow safety measures to be compromised as a result. It seems that this is a problem with many departments and I wonder what infection control is in place?! It’s a shame as individual medical staff are amazing, but first and foremost as a patient you want to feel safe, especially when you are pregnant during a pandemic. There are department exceptions, such as the foetal scanning unit, which has clear and strict safety measures in place. Why can’t other departments be run this way?! I would prefer to go to another hospital, however my care is specialist. I know the NHS are under pressure and appreciate the challenging situation for staff, however this doesn’t excuse negligence when it comes to patient safety during the pandemic. They aren’t helping the situation by exposing through a failure to enforce government guidelines and rules (proper mask wearing, social distancing).