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Care Opinion

Wishaw General Hospital, Maternity Unit

Posted By 123123

"Wishaw General Hospital, Maternity Unit"

About: University Hospital Wishaw / Maternity Care (Wards 21-24)

(as the patient),

After being sent to hospital down South for complications during pregnancy I came to stay with parents for support and to be here due to family issues. I was told to go straight to hospital with any severe pain and fresh blood. I had excruciating pain and more fresh bleeding so called NHS24 who passed me on to a midwife at Wishaw who was not helpful in the slightest and her whole attitude was "I can not be bothered".  The midwife didn't seem to care that I had been told to be checked out asap if any symptoms came and didn't seem to care that I was concerned I was losing my baby.

At around 11am the same day I was doubled over in agony and around 3pm the same again, I went to the bathroom to find I had passed a large blood clot and went straight to A&E. When there the triage nurse, whom I cannot fault, wanted to send me straight to maternity unit for treatment but when she called them they only wanted to speak on the phone.

The lady I spoke to first had a horrible attitude and came across as rude. Told me I was not bleeding enough for a concern towards baby or my health and that "if you did not bring the clot, we will not see you". I was then passed to another midwife who told me the same but politer and then told me to go buy a pregnancy test on my way home "if it is positive then go to hairmyres in the morning for emergency scan, if not then you have lost the baby".

I was left in A&E crying and confused with no further advice or information. If they would not see me without the clot then why didn't the original midwife on the phone tell me if I passed one to keep it?  I cannot believe how unhelpful, rude and unwilling to do their job these "midwives" I spoke to were.

The nurse in triage tested me and it was positive. I managed to get a scan first thing in the morning at hairmyres hospital and was informed my baby no longer had a heartbeat.

I no longer have any faith in Wishaw's maternity unit, despite having two previous children there, and would not recommend. I am now devastated, confused and angry at how I was treated by these "professionals". These individuals are what give the NHS bad names.

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Responses

Response from Wendy Drysdale, Senior Midwife for Neonatal and Transitional Care Unit, Maternity Services, NHS Lanarkshire 8 years ago
Wendy Drysdale
Senior Midwife for Neonatal and Transitional Care Unit, Maternity Services,
NHS Lanarkshire

Submitted on 07/04/2016 at 17:07
Published on Care Opinion at 17:50

picture of Wendy Drysdale

Dear 123123,

Thank you for contacting us via patient opinion. I am extremely sorry and disappointed that this was your experience. This is not the standard of care and compassion NHS Lanarkshire would expect from any of our staff working within Maternity Triage and Early Pregnancy. We strive continually to provide a safe, effective and person centred approach to all women accessing our services and it is very disappointing to hear that the attitude of our staff made this very difficult and worrying situation worse for you.

In Early Pregnancy we try to speak to patients directly as this allows our Midwives to get a clear assessment of what is happening to ensure the risk assessment reflects the symptoms accurately and ensures that care is planned and carried out by the appropriate person at an appropriate time.

Unfortunately, with bleeding in early pregnancy we cannot always reassure that a pregnancy will continue, however, I would expect you to have received clear and concise information, that you understood and that this was provided sensitively with compassion. I apologise that you were left crying and confused with no clear plan of care that you understood.

All calls to Maternity Triage and Early Pregnancy Unit are documented using a Call Record allowing us to risk assess all patients and document any advice and plan of care. We will have your record of these calls.

You have lost your faith in our staff and service completely, from these episodes of care. Unfortunately, I cannot change what happened to you; however we need to learn from your feedback. I have shared your post with the Senior Charge Midwife for Triage and EPAS, and she will share your concerns with her team.

I would like to ask you to contact me with further details and I hope you can offer me the opportunity to review your records and then discuss these with you, so as a team we can ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

My direct contact number is Tel: 01698 366354

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