Bad Midwife/Medical Experiences

[Dolores]

Hi all,

I'm really getting off to a bad start here - don't want to trash the NHS but this is just insanity!

I wanted to see if you had any similar experiences or advice?

Basically I'm about 8-9 weeks pregnant. When I was 5 weeks pregnant I rang my local doctors because I thought I would have to make an appointment with my GP or the nurse.

At first I was told I needed to make an appointment with a nurse to confirm the pregnancy. I called back the next day as advised and then was told they don't do that anymore, a home pregnancy test is extremely accurate and that I need to come in and fill in a form to make an appointment with the local midwife.

I go in a few days later, fill in the form, and am told because it's Thursday and the midwife always picks the forms up on a Wednesday that I will have to wait a week until she picks them back up the week after. No big deal.

Next Wednesday rolls around and no phone call. I wait till late Thursday then ring up again to speak to a different receptionist who says the surgery was temporarily closed that afternoon and the midwife didn't pick up the forms - they're still there.

Now by this point I'm getting anxious. I know I want early generic tests, I need to be booked in for my first scan and because I have a rhesus negative blood type I need an anti-D injection at 12 weeks. I explain this and they assure me I will definitely be getting a call NEXT Wednesday.

Three and a half weeks have gone by and the midwife finally calls. I bloomin' go and miss her call but ring her back within the hour. No reply. The number she gave me was an office number and there is no voice mail facility and it just rings out.

I call the GP surgery again and they give me ANOTHER number to try. I ring that - again, rings out, no voice mail facility. I call every hour for 3 more hours today. I finally get a receptionist who tells me the midwife is out but will be back after lunch and will pick up my message if I call back at 1pm.

I call back at 1pm - no one answers. I try both numbers and the surgery. The surgery tell me the midwife will be back in at 4pm. I call at 4pm and finally get a receptionist but she says the midwife isn't there and will be back at 5pm. I explain my frustration and ask them if they can pass on a message for her to call me back.

4:55pm - I get a call to say the midwife isn't back in till Tuesday, so I can't speak to her till then to make an appointment. So it may be ANOTHER week after that.

I mean, seriously, I'm going to miss my 12 week scan slot by this rate and who knows if anything is potentially wrong with my baby because I haven't had even a blood test or anything from anyone.

I don't mean to sound snobby, but I used to get private health care with my old job and the difference when you pay is absolutely mind blowing. WORST thing is I've paid taxes for 12 years and never had an operation and you wonder why a scan costs the NHS about £60 - £90 why they don't have the common sense and admin to b****y book me an appointment and a scan!

PHEW!

My husband is really frustrated and wrong or right has just decided to storm down to the GP surgery.

Sorry to rant but does anyone else feel my frustration?!?! Has anyone else had similar experiences with incompetence?

Dolores x

 

[Selina13]

What area are you in as I have a service called one to one midwives. Its commisioned by nhs and is free. X

 

[Hoping for no2]

That does sound very frustrating, I can sympathise. I wouldn't worry as they will make sure you get everything at the right time. The midwife has your form so knows your dates. Call midwife liaison at your local hospital and they may be able to sort for you? The midwife service operates separately from your GP surgery. I wasn't seen till 10 weeks by the midwife this time and she referred me for scan same day and I got appt through the post booking me for scan at 12 + 4. The scan is offered between 11 and 14 weeks, it's not necessarily 12 weeks, so you've got plenty time. As for blood tests at booking in, they are to do with you, not the baby, so you wouldn't know if there is any problem at this point. If you opt for chromosomal testing bloods are done for this at your scan appt. When I had my first in Scotland the booking in and scan was done together at 12 weeks do I didn't see anyone until then.

Although the NHS can be frustrating at times we are very very lucky to have universal free healthcare in the uk and I'm personally very grateful for it xx

 

[Wednesday]

Oh my goodness! That sounds terrible, I would be so so angry x

 

[Emmajaine]

You have until 14+1 to have the dating scan and associated blood tests.

I didn't get my booking in appointment until 12+3 and then my scan was at 13+6 (but was put forward 4 days). This was similar in my first pregnancy too, so I think some areas are just like that. I know how frustrating it can be.

Em x

 

[russellmuscle]

It is frustrating for any expectant mother waiting for a scan especially if there is history or potential issues there however being an NHS staff member and working directly with patients who are dying and yet having an even longer wait for a CT or MRI scan (which subsequently delays result therefore treatment and possible days of life) to determine how far along their cancer is, is probably at greater cause for concern. Alot of the issues for scanning is also alot down to staff annual leave, clinic closure and or postponed or simply because there is a high demand coupled with the fact there will always be both patients who are under urgent care and require alot of scans or the ones who don't bother to phone in and waste appointments.


Working in an office I can totally understand both that we staff do have a life to however that does not mean that there should not be support for you and other patients during your time of need.

I run 6 clinics a week for two consultants who also have specialist nurses and staff who they attend clinic and meetings with - should any of these people fall sick or have annual leave the clinic and patients will be rescheduled. We being a treatment hospital we wait and depend alot on radiology results which are always at a high demand. Despite an urgent requests patients waiting to get a scan to then a follow up appointment (when radiology get round to reporting results) and then a treatment plan could be months depending on cancer and clinic demand. Being the one who has to physically move and call all these patients and explain is actually quite difficult. For some patients they don't mind but then there are some who are extremely angry about it. It's not my fault or my consultants that the clinic he needs isn't available? Point being is alot of issues arise when running a clinic and meeting deadlines which aren't always to patients needs or expectations and it is something that they are continually working on. I know that due to the increased volume of work load I have had in one year just by cuts and changes alone.

The MW/HV service I understand to be extremely stretched to the point I actually don't see a HV it's a practice nurse because HV attend to mothers who require more support and social work involvement. A bit annoying but I'm fortunate to be one of those families who don't need the extra support.

I would certainly put in a complaint to your GP surgery about lack of communication and patient continuity within the surgery and possibly even think about a move? I don't work in a GP practice nor have I ever wanted to on account of majority of every surgery staff member I have encountered (especially the receptionists) are rude and or incompetent.

Given I have alot of dealings with gps from a hospital perspective I see how much corners they cut, they push alot back onto the hospitals aswell and keep alot of patients in the dark.

I have my own gripe with the nhs and it's lack of competence with staff members, mainly stemming from the fact my OH was diagnosed as having vertigo by a GP until he stroked had a rash and subsequent neuro bacterial meningitis which almost killed him at 22, when my baby was 7m old. And the fact I was basically left to diagnose and seek help and treatment from drs and a&e services for my baby who was allergic to milk. So yeah. I don't like GPS.


For something like a scan or blood tests although you pay taxes, you can get these done privately at a low cost. Prior to my second boy I had a miscarriage after coil pregnancy so I got myself an early scan which was £40 saved me the wait and the stress and a moan.

Alot of people are in the same boat, sadly not only is the nhs very stretched it has alot of corner cutters and that includes with staff members. Sorry for the ramble just thought I'd offer up the insight to us as staff members rather than the nhs as one being. The nhs is merely a giant game of domino's. But I agree that within any organisation not just the nhs there is a huge lack of competence and communication toward patients or customers.

 

[Rose83]

This does sound very frustrating and there is a mummy in tri 3 who has had terrible trouble getting the right appointments she has desperately needed due to having an accompanying medical condition and has been forced to go private many times.

At my surgery you call and say you are pregnant and they book you in for your booking appointment for when you are 8 weeks (ish) and then from there you are on the system and sent out a scan appointment. As others have said they WILL make sure you are seen in the window for having the nuchal scan etc because they have to make sure everyone has that option. It depends on your area how that process works but many people aren't seen until just before the scan or its all done at the same time x

 

[Blueclass]

I understand your frustration I would find that very annoying. However you may not get given a scan at 12 weeks mine was almost 14 weeks.

 

[JulyBug]

I would be frustrated too.. I had a similar experience, I had to chase and chase to get a booking in appointment, I ended up having to go to the hospital for it at 14 weeks as I had been 'missed'.. They then had to get me back the day after for my scan so i didn't have my dating scan until 14+1 weeks.. luckily they still managed to do all the necessary tests but it was close!.. I also ended up having two blood tests, One at my booking in and then I had to have them done again the day after!!.. the whole thing was a mess.. the most annoying thing was that on my notes they put the reason for my late booking in was 'unable to attend earlier appointment' .. which was total bull!

x

 

[Dolores]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate it!

I don't want to come across as ungrateful - I really am not! But I would be grateful for a good and understanding service, or even a service that simply says one word which seems to be lacking every time something wrong happens, which is "sorry!"

I realise the NHS is service we are lucky to have but it's not completely free, you do pay your taxes for this service and if everything's fine, I can understand how many women pay for private scans, but I don't want too just because of the principle of it.

I got a bit upset yesterday because with all this incompetence so early and to organise something so simple I started to worry what the hell will happen in the hospital! My confidence with the NHS had gone completely and I started to really worry about everything.

My husband went down and spoke to them firmly but demanded if I couldn't get an appointment with the midwife he wanted one with the doctor - we got an appointment straight away. Funny how you complain for 5 minutes and you get what I have been trying nearly a month to organise now. Being polite seems to get you nowhere - such a shame!

I have an appointment booked for next week so feel very relieved! I hear so many horror stories of babies hearts stopping beating and women getting late scans only to realise they have had a dead bundle inside of them for weeks that could've been discovered much early had the system worked better.

Anyway, sorry for my ranting!

Thanks for everyone's help I really appreciated reading the support/advice

Dolores x

 

[Dolores]

I would be frustrated too.. I had a similar experience, I had to chase and chase to get a booking in appointment, I ended up having to go to the hospital for it at 14 weeks as I had been 'missed'.. They then had to get me back the day after for my scan so i didn't have my dating scan until 14+1 weeks.. luckily they still managed to do all the necessary tests but it was close!.. I also ended up having two blood tests, One at my booking in and then I had to have them done again the day after!!.. the whole thing was a mess.. the most annoying thing was that on my notes they put the reason for my late booking in was 'unable to attend earlier appointment' .. which was total bull!

x

Hi JulyBug,

This seems to be the thing - it's as if the cock ups happen at the admin side/organising part of things. I think there are some issues that need to be ironed out with record keeping. I'm sorry you had to push for your appointment! I get the way you feel!

D x

 

[Dolores]

What area are you in as I have a service called one to one midwives. Its commisioned by nhs and is free. X

Hi Selina,

Me and my husband recently moved to Sunderland. The medical practice is literally at the bottom of our street - so close!

D x

 

[Dolores]

That does sound very frustrating, I can sympathise. I wouldn't worry as they will make sure you get everything at the right time. The midwife has your form so knows your dates. Call midwife liaison at your local hospital and they may be able to sort for you? The midwife service operates separately from your GP surgery. I wasn't seen till 10 weeks by the midwife this time and she referred me for scan same day and I got appt through the post booking me for scan at 12 + 4. The scan is offered between 11 and 14 weeks, it's not necessarily 12 weeks, so you've got plenty time. As for blood tests at booking in, they are to do with you, not the baby, so you wouldn't know if there is any problem at this point. If you opt for chromosomal testing bloods are done for this at your scan appt. When I had my first in Scotland the booking in and scan was done together at 12 weeks do I didn't see anyone until then.

Although the NHS can be frustrating at times we are very very lucky to have universal free healthcare in the uk and I'm personally very grateful for it xx

Hi Hoping,

I read the leaflet they gave me at the GP's a couple of weeks ago and it did say the 12 week scan can be done around that time and not exactly at 12 weeks.

As a first time mum I'm very nervous and worried to make sure everything is fine so an eager to get the scan as soon as I can. I will opt for all tests given as I want to be fully in the know if anything is wrong with baby.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate our health care but am grateful for a good service not a bad one! I just find it strange how I get all these excuses of no room no appointments everyone's on holiday you've missed them and my husband goes and complains for 5 minutes and suddenly the waters part and I have an appointment straight away. Magic! I think they can do it when they need too which is where my frustration lies. If they were genuinely pushed I would wait like anyone else, but my local midwife seems to always be on holiday!

D x

 

[love87]

I'm in Ireland and there is nothing done here until you are 12 weeks. Both my prior pregnancys I was 13+5 when dating scan was done and booking in appointment is the same day. Basically its all done together. Only appointment before that is with the GP and that is to inform them of your pregnancy so that they can send your details to the pregnancy clinic.
Your situation does sound very frustrating. I hate when you are trying to get hold of someone and weeks pass. I'm sure all will be fine. Hopefully they get back to you soon. X

 

[Dolores]

It is frustrating for any expectant mother waiting for a scan especially if there is history or potential issues there however being an NHS staff member and working directly with patients who are dying and yet having an even longer wait for a CT or MRI scan (which subsequently delays result therefore treatment and possible days of life) to determine how far along their cancer is, is probably at greater cause for concern. Alot of the issues for scanning is also alot down to staff annual leave, clinic closure and or postponed or simply because there is a high demand coupled with the fact there will always be both patients who are under urgent care and require alot of scans or the ones who don't bother to phone in and waste appointments.


Working in an office I can totally understand both that we staff do have a life to however that does not mean that there should not be support for you and other patients during your time of need.

I run 6 clinics a week for two consultants who also have specialist nurses and staff who they attend clinic and meetings with - should any of these people fall sick or have annual leave the clinic and patients will be rescheduled. We being a treatment hospital we wait and depend alot on radiology results which are always at a high demand. Despite an urgent requests patients waiting to get a scan to then a follow up appointment (when radiology get round to reporting results) and then a treatment plan could be months depending on cancer and clinic demand. Being the one who has to physically move and call all these patients and explain is actually quite difficult. For some patients they don't mind but then there are some who are extremely angry about it. It's not my fault or my consultants that the clinic he needs isn't available? Point being is alot of issues arise when running a clinic and meeting deadlines which aren't always to patients needs or expectations and it is something that they are continually working on. I know that due to the increased volume of work load I have had in one year just by cuts and changes alone.

The MW/HV service I understand to be extremely stretched to the point I actually don't see a HV it's a practice nurse because HV attend to mothers who require more support and social work involvement. A bit annoying but I'm fortunate to be one of those families who don't need the extra support.

I would certainly put in a complaint to your GP surgery about lack of communication and patient continuity within the surgery and possibly even think about a move? I don't work in a GP practice nor have I ever wanted to on account of majority of every surgery staff member I have encountered (especially the receptionists) are rude and or incompetent.

Given I have alot of dealings with gps from a hospital perspective I see how much corners they cut, they push alot back onto the hospitals aswell and keep alot of patients in the dark.

I have my own gripe with the nhs and it's lack of competence with staff members, mainly stemming from the fact my OH was diagnosed as having vertigo by a GP until he stroked had a rash and subsequent neuro bacterial meningitis which almost killed him at 22, when my baby was 7m old. And the fact I was basically left to diagnose and seek help and treatment from drs and a&e services for my baby who was allergic to milk. So yeah. I don't like GPS.


For something like a scan or blood tests although you pay taxes, you can get these done privately at a low cost. Prior to my second boy I had a miscarriage after coil pregnancy so I got myself an early scan which was £40 saved me the wait and the stress and a moan.

Alot of people are in the same boat, sadly not only is the nhs very stretched it has alot of corner cutters and that includes with staff members. Sorry for the ramble just thought I'd offer up the insight to us as staff members rather than the nhs as one being. The nhs is merely a giant game of domino's. But I agree that within any organisation not just the nhs there is a huge lack of competence and communication toward patients or customers.

Hi russellmuscle,

I think it's awful about your child and their misdiagnosis - I really do sympathise with you there. This is exactly the type of thing I worry about! I have lost most of my confidence in the service and I end up thinking the worse and checking everything myself! I don't want too feel this way but my husband had a terrible ordeal with the NHS when he needed an operation that went wrong due to so many mistakes made in the lead up and I am filled with dread at the thought of even having to give birth in a hospital!

My best friend is engaged to a doctor and all his friends are doctors too - we socialise with them and they are very quick to tell you how busy and pressed they are. I really feel for them and I often think nurses and doctors wages should be put up significantly for the responsible and vital job they do - what fills me with dread seems to be the record keeping/admin side of the NHS which in my experience is terrible!

I understand what you mean about GP's though - mistakes happen and then you think, oh my God, that could've been life threatening!

I appreciate the NHS, always will, but I hate the way you have to constantly chase everything up yourself and they almost rely on you knowing your full medical history and all the ins and outs for what you need.

Maybe I am hormonal! Not a good time for them to maybe mess me around! Pregnant woman here, anger is my middle name hahahahaha!

Everything is fine now and I have my appointment after my husband went into the surgery and complained - I've never known them be so nice or get me an appointment so fast! I don't think it helped that when he was complaining someone who had been waiting in the surgery started to agree and chime in as well.

Hopefully just a small glitch and things will be fine from now on

Dolores x

 

[russellmuscle]

I like to check alot myself anyway but then this is because I am admin within the NHS so I know how alot of procedures work or should work so it's easier for me to chase up results because I know what and where I'm going and I don't take fibs from receptionists either lol.

I don't really think drs should be paid anymore imo the lower grade Drs to certainly get the brunt and most pressure, if your a consultant then things can and do get delegated. So drs are actually somewhat privileged within the nhs but that's understandable given they provide a service.

What I do not agree on, is how majority of the waiting list initiative clinics are run, to cut down wait times they put on extra clinics over time if you like for the drs. The admin support get no overtime to combat this work load that comes from both creating managing and organising a waiting list clinic to then typing up and following up all patients with their results.

What the NHS should be focusing on is support across the board. Perhaps if admin departments were given enough support to combat the wait list initiatives then there would not be areas lacking sadly.

I can't speak for a gp surgery administration department, because they usually use back to front methods and case notes. In my job however every patient call and or handwritten request is scanned onto their online medical file which is accessed across the board. So we can see letters reports etc from other departments. Which is extremely useful. We can see appointments too. We are monitored on our work too, which is extremely difficult to measure given each patients issue is usually different and longer or shorter than expected.

Ofcourse this is all different from your issues atm and I realise that. But so many people looking in from the outside assume that the nhs is this amazing thing and whilst it is it also has its flaws and the people at the crux of those pressures and problems are humans following instruction or in alot of departments lack of instruction because the sad truth is the nhs is not all about patient care anymore. It's about money budgets and numbers.

Also alot of the time things will get done when someone complains because it usually gets passed on to someone else's work load to deal with if the person requested is on annual leave.

Ie we mark attention on our clinic when our consultants are on leave and they still force book patients into that clinic. Then the patients arrive we either need to find anyone or someone even if it's not the correct doctor because even that is better than sending them away.

Your quite entitled to moan when pregnant. I moan alot and I'm not anymore

X

 

[mylullaby]

It does sound hugely frustrating but the NHS is being completely stripped of the funding it needs to function properly. This is to make us believe we'd be better of under a private system. Something I passionately disagree with. I don't see things improving under this government unfortunately.

On a side note, please don't worry about your anti-D jab. That's much further down the line, something like 28 weeks. I hope things start to improve for you now you're booked in. X

 

[Hoping for no2]

It does sound hugely frustrating but the NHS is being completely stripped of the funding it needs to function properly. This is to make us believe we'd be better of under a private system. Something I passionately disagree with. I don't see things improving under this government unfortunately.

On a side note, please don't worry about your anti-D jab. That's much further down the line, something like 28 weeks. I hope things start to improve for you now you're booked in. X

Agree completely. The NHS certainly has its issues but lack of funding is the main issue.

My sister in law lives in the US and has very very good health cover, but still paid around $2000 each time she delivered a baby in hospital costs. She had 3 kids so has spent $6,000 at least just on delivering babies. Not to mention the many, many $000's of dollars they've spent on top of their health cover on doctors visits, hospital stays and meds over the years. Puts it into perspective.

 

[mylullaby]

It does sound hugely frustrating but the NHS is being completely stripped of the funding it needs to function properly. This is to make us believe we'd be better of under a private system. Something I passionately disagree with. I don't see things improving under this government unfortunately.

On a side note, please don't worry about your anti-D jab. That's much further down the line, something like 28 weeks. I hope things start to improve for you now you're booked in. X

Agree completely. The NHS certainly has its issues but lack of funding is the main issue.

My sister in law lives in the US and has very very good health cover, but still paid around $2000 each time she delivered a baby in hospital costs. She had 3 kids so has spent $6,000 at least just on delivering babies. Not to mention the many, many $000's of dollars they've spent on top of their health cover on doctors visits, hospital stays and meds over the years. Puts it into perspective.

People in the states are forced into bankruptcy to pay for treatment when their kids get sick. It scares me so much that we could be heading that way. Yes the NHS has its flaws, of course it does. But people in this country don't have to sell everything they have when their kids get sick. It's a truly terrifying prospect.

Having said that, obviously it's hugely frustrating when you're messed about for whatever reason. Hopefully now the appointment has been booked things will run more smoothly. Xx

 

[Sydney]

In the UK: If you are Rh-Neg, you don't get an Anti-D injection until 28 weeks unless you have any bleeding prior to this.

Having said that, depending on your trust, they may have moved over to a new process like what we do which is:

1. confirm your blood group as part of your booking bloods.
2. We take another blood sample that detects if your baby is Rh Pos or Neg and if that test says Rh Pos - you have anti-D at 28/40. If it says baby is Rh Neg, you won't have anti-D at 28/40.
3. After baby is born, we take cord blood samples and blood samples from mum - for all Rh neg women regardless of what the test said earlier in pregnancy. This then confirms for sure baby's blood type.
4. Results from point three: if Rh Neg - no anti-D given , if Rh pos - Anti-D is given.

In terms of referral to midwives, you can self-refer to the hospital of your choosing and most hospital websites have a maternity section with self-referral instructions.