How do you change hospital?

[EEvans]

Hi all! I'm only 11 weeks and yet to have any appointments. I have one booked in on the 7th and a nuchal scan on the 10th.

When I saw my gp first he put me down for my nearest hospital at my current address - Whipps Cross.

Close friend of ours had a baby there two weeks ago and they have now revealed the full horror of it, sent home as no beds in early labour, come back the next day to be told off for going home, botched epidural requiring surgery, sent home early (no beds) with high blood pressure for mom and baby with no medication! The local midwife who came to their house two days after was absolutely horrified and said how dangerous it was that the mom hadn't been given any quite standard medicines!

Sooooo.... I want to change hospital! We have just moved so their is one slightly nearer - not much in it - Queens. Which had a bad rep 5 years ago but has since had a new midwife centre built and we've heard mom positive things about.

Does anyone know how you go about changing your care from one hospital to another?

I don't want to do it before my first two appointments as I am worries I would end up missing them.

Any advice would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.

[LittleBairn]

I changed my hospital at the start of this pregnancy. I made an appointment with my GP (it was urgent I'm high risk and need to see my consultant very early on) and she arrange it. There was seem issues with the first hospital being difficult but my GPs receptionist sorted that out.
Then I made sure to call the maternity department of the 2nd hospital to double check if my records had been sent.

Have you had your booking in appointment yet? If its soon I would mention it to the midwife. If this is baby number one then it shouldn't be too much of a hassle since the current hospital is unlikely to have an obstetrics file on you.

[LittleBairn]

Some not seem

[EEvans]

Thank you LittleB, I've had no appointments at all yet. I've got an appointment with the midwife at the hospital on the 7th April. It didn't say Booking App on the letter but I'm assuming it's that!

I have Nuchal Scan booked with that hospital a few days later. I'm concerned if I mention I want to change a the first appointment the second one might get cancelled.

[Yangsun]

I told community midwife I wanted to change at about 25 weeks, it was no problem at all (even though the new hospital was in a different county). I just had an extra appointment at the new hospital so they could see my notes etc.

[LittleBairn]

Yes some midwifes have their surgery at the hospital other will have it in the clinic. You can change your care at any point so you could change once the scan is done.

The only complication I have had is that if I need an ambulance they would take me to the other hospital because it's closer.
This is a real possibility in my case and absolutely no way will I ever step inside that place again so our plan is to drive 10 minutes down the motorway then call 999.

[WrappedInABlankie]

You just need to ask your MW when you see her.

However the new hospital could have a bad story from someone else from recent.

the hospital where I had DS was poor for my treatment but the other hospital also had poor treatment of a couple of friends

[EEvans]

Oh dear LittleB! I can just imagine you on the side of the motorway! Lol! Isn't it such a shame that these are the kinds of things we have to resort to, to try and get the care we want.

My husband and I were chatting early about how absurd it is that we love basically been given a choice of "which crap hospital would you like?"

The one I'm having my appointments in has just been announced as ring put into "special measures"! Great! The one we want to change to was in"special measures" but about 4 years ago. My SiL had her baby there and had an awful time. We are just hoping the one that was crap a while ago will now be better as they have had a new wife led unit built. Our thinking is, the one that was crap a while back should be better the one they are saying is crap right now!!

What a choice hey!

I'm under no illusions that they aren't problems where ever you go but if I can avoid the "just be put in special measures" hospital, I want to!!

Thanks for all your thoughts. I will ask at my new GP when I've had my appointments at the hospital. They are actually nearer to the hospital I want to change to than my old GP, so I think if I had been registered there when I found out i was pregnant I'd have been sent to the hospital I now want to change to - if that makes sense.

Thanks again all.

[EEvans]

Just read that back and it is littered with typos! Do apologise!! x

[Kraggle]

I just told my midwife at my booking in app where I wanted to give birth and where I wanted to go for my scans. It wasn't any problem at all.

[EEvans]

Hi Kraggle,

My midwife booking appointment is in the hospital I don't want to go to. If it was in a "neutral" setting I think I would mention it straight away but I'm worried that being all "hi, I don't want to come hear" could cause a problem.

Has any one experienced telling a midwife that is based in the place they don't want to go?

[NobbyNobs]

I just told my midwife at my 16 week app and she did it.

I didn't even ask. I could have went into labour in the road outside the original hospital and would have walked to the other one if needed.

Don't take any shit, feeling safe in labour is a huge thing, you deserve to be in a hospital you trust, or when playing shite hospital roulette not in the one that makes you frightened.

[NobbyNobs]

My midwife was based in the shite place. She can lump it. No fucker checked my bloods for the anti D injections I needed.

New hospital shat themselves when they saw it hadn't been done when I was handed over (old place took their time) and there was lots of injections in my arse in a short period of time.

[WhichWayWound]

Oh dear, I'm too thinking of changing from whipps.
I'm wary after the last two times, last time in particular they lost FOUR blood tests, a positive strep b test and did an induction where I'm sure if they'd listened I could of avoided a PPh.

This time, talked myself into it (I live two roads away!), but I'm now 12 weeks and I've discovered they've lost my referral ( they did last time) so once again I'll miss scan dates. I've just lost faith in them, more because of the rudeness on the phone than the loss. What I hated most was the lack of care there, I could cope with most things but not alone. Each time I've been patronised there, not great when you're trying to explain you've had prom at 35 weeks and no one believes you.

...but what else? I could labour fast, and I dread travelling in labour

[Kemet]

I changed hospital a few weeks ago. All I did was fill in the self referal form on the new hospital's maternity website. Once I got accepted I rang my previous hospital and informed them.

[NickyEds]

I might change the hospital I'm due to give birth at. I'm not sure if I want to go back to where I had ds. I mentioned this to my mw at my booking in appointment and she put the current hospital in my notes but said I could just decide later. I'm happy enough to have my scans at the current hospital and it's where my community mws are based (even though I have appointments at the gps surgery), it's just the birth that I'm worried about. I'm having an appointment in two week (I'll be 27 weeks) and I'll discuss it again then. I think that (in our area)the initial decision is mainly to see if you definitely do/don't want a home birth and where you'll be scanned.