NHS frustration..

JulyBug

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2016
Messages
711
Reaction score
0
I never usually speak negatively of the NHS as I do believe we are extremely lucky with the care we get in the UK and everybody who works for the NHS work extremely hard however I never thought once I got pregnant I'd get so little care..

I am currently 11+4 weeks pregnant and so far all I've had is one 5 minute midwife appointment.. the midwife I saw was standing in for the usual midwife however the normal midwife was actually leaving so i wouldn't see her anyway, a few weeks passed and i still hadn't heard anything so I phoned the community midwife at my local hospital and apparently they are still looking for someone to replace her so as it stands I have no midwife and still haven't had a booking in appointment..

After my 5 minute appointment i got my '12 week' scan appointment through which is on the 9th Jan which takes me over 14 weeks! Luckily I had booked a private scan which I had on Wednesday and everything was ok but she confirmed my concerns and said I needed to call them and ask to be seen sooner to be able to do the screening tests as over 14 weeks is too late.

So yesterday at 9am I phoned my hospital and was told there are no earlier appointments but of course they'd have to 'fit me in' and someone would call me back.. 12o'clock today and I still hadn't heard (after leaving a voicemail yesterday afternoon) and I spoke to somebody else who told me again there are no earlier appointments and theres nothing they can do all he could do was put me through to the next nearest hospital and see if they had any appointments, but there was no answer so could only leave a message which I doubt will be listened too or my call returned!

Feeling a little frustrated and unsure of what to do!?

Any advice would be appreciated


xx
 
Last edited:
Maternity service are massively under pressure at the moment and throw in Christmas in to the mix and it all goes wrong! I'm sure someone will ring as soon as they can. Ring your Community team and see if you can see someone else until they employ someone to cover you.
 
On the Nhs you don't get a midwife that is the same throughout to do all the scans and be there for the birth. My doctors midwife ended up delivering my gas and air at home but I seen complete strangers on the day and she was off once too and the woman I'd seen then was there for me in hospital and left before I delivered. I didn't feel comfortable with her at all and she made sure all my wishes gone out of the window until my scan I had a booking appointment and filled out loads of forms but they don't do anything exciting at the appointment for the scan you're likely to wait a long time cto be seen as with anything and again for your bloods and that's it. Be glad you're not looking for mental help a referral can take over a year and the amount of "appointment letters" that get lost in the mail, being discharged and start again is a hell of a lot worse! Being seen 2 weeks after with it being crimbo isn't really that bad. I get you're frustrated but what would you do with the outcome of the test? That's something to consider and if the outcome would mean so much to what you would do with it, it's likely to be worth having that done privately.


 
I have had similar issues, spent literally whole days on the phone, almost didn't get a dating scan at all, first midwife totally blanked me and wouldn't even get back to my calls/messages. I made such a fuss for so long I got a new midwife just as I turned 16 weeks and wasn't going to have a 16 week appointment but she squeezed me in. I almost decided I no longer wanted any help from the NHS as it was just really stressing me out! So I know how you feel. The only advice is to keep nagging until someone listens. It's awful that we have to do that bit it seems the only way. Took me about a month and a half to get anywhere but I'm happy ish with my new midwife now. It has made me slightly more independent though! Hope it gets sorted soon xx
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,572
Messages
4,654,624
Members
110,012
Latest member
lauramayne90
Back
Top