"Care at the neonatal unit at basildon hospital"

My daughter was admitted to Basildon neonatal unit at the beginning of 2013. I feel the ward disregarded most of my concern as a mother even when brought to the attention of the ward manager.

The doctors did not seem to listen to parents but rather to nurses that changed both day and night. There was no continuity of nursing care but the doctors will still ask the nurses how the baby is doing when they don't know the baby's history.

The nurses handover time felt it was mainly to discuss parents rather than their patients. Through out my dealings with the nurses it was apparent that there was a tone of racism and discrimination which some parents talked about including myself.

I wanted to raise my concern with PALS but felt they seemed to be on the side of the hospital and didn't see how it would be dealt with impartially. There were incidents of unqualified nurses looking after babies they are not qualified to take care of. For example a nurse not able to intervene when my daughter needed more oxygen because she is not qualified and she was the one put in charge of my daughters care for the day.

My daughter is home after 2 months in basildon hospital but I strongly believe her stay in hospital could have been shorter if there was better communication between doctors and nurses, also if they listened to me as a parent. There was power struggle between nurses and doctors which felt very apparent.

All in all the ward staff we came into contact with lacked compassion, efficient management and respect for parents.