"Labour & Maternity"

My wife was transferred to The Royal London from a local Birthing Centre for extra assistance during the recent birth of our first son. First of all, the ambulance staff were wonderful; attentive and very friendly creating a good environment for a journey which could've been stressful otherwise. Once in the labour suite we were first met by a nice Dr who examined/assessed. Matters began progressing but unfortunately the Dr was summoned for a Category 1. Then entered the replacement Dr. They failed to announce their entrance preferring to switch on all the lights (which had been lowered by the nurse for comfort) and they proceeded to very rudely demand info from the nurse although saying all details of what occurred before the Royal London didn't matter (which was 5 1/2 hours at the Birth Centre). Bedside manner was aggressive, although I can appreciate he is very busy with lots of patients. Luckily his beeper went off and he was called away. The consultant who successfully delivered our little boy mixed care/attention with the assertiveness required.

My wife and I are both very glad that the previous Dr was not involved in our son's birth. I would suggest they need a bit of re-training on how they interact with people (both patients and colleagues) or perhaps just a relaxing holiday?

My next gripe comes with how we were handled, or lack thereof, after the birth. The Postnatal Notes say it all; seen at 10.47am and not again until 9.31pm! I can understand the nursing team were busy, but as clueless new parents we really needed a little bit of guidance of what we should be doing and the timeframe moving forward.

Overall, all but one of the members of staff we met were excellent, but I think they need some extra support/funding. Therefore our experience was tarnished and I would like to think this feedback will be listened to so that improvements can be made.

I would have happily detailed this in the "Friends & Family Test" which according to the Barts Health Trust is issued on discharge or within 48hrs thereafter. However, we were not given this option.