"St Thomas ADU department"

After being attended with ignorance by the receptionist and keeping my urine sample in my hand for more than 1 hour the same nurse who checked me in was in charge to do my checks. During our conversation she was emphasising the fact that if I go many times to that unit I will be sent to the psychiatrist as I have history of anxiety (a fact that was specified in my maternity record book by me as I feel anxious when I go on the tube as I feel like there is no air to breathe). I was explaining to her that I have been sent there, it was my first time in the unit and I was never attended for my bleeding and other problems that I have experienced thru the pregnancy in that particular unit. I felt that she was not listening as she was mentioning the anxiety issue over and over again.

I was explaining to her that I have very bad pain and she was saying that this was maybe from the discs hernia that I have. The pain was on the right side of the abdomen down to the uterus. After this nonsense conversation in which I felt that she was bluffing all the time, I was told to wait for the notes that she must to write in the report. The final report seemed malicious and I felt had nothing to do with the reality!

I am 30 years old and I have struggled to have my baby. I am a customer service duty manager and I never treat my guests with such kind of disrespect as I feel I have been shown. Was the worst experience from a chain of bad experiences since I became pregnant and I have been attended in this Hospital.

I was lucky and I was not forced to do my checks in UK or have to face the medical system as much.

I felt like the staff were offensive towards those who are there. You need to be out of your senses to spend 6 hours being pregnant in a hospital just for “fun” as the personnel of the hospital seem to be “nicely” trying to suggest you are. I have experienced also the private system which is far better than the NHS, although even though I am paying more or less same amount for the NHS as the taxes that are deducted from my salary and my husband s wage are more than £ 1000 monthly. Those NHS employees are paid by their patients and I would expect a greater professionalism. Shame on NHS system and shame on Antenatal Unit in St Thomas Hospital!