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Pregnancy

Three in four NHS areas are failing on maternity!

33 replies

Lilyuq · 28/10/2016 23:41

So shocked to read this news, but not surprising to know. How do you feel?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/three-in-four-nhs-areas-are-failing-on-maternity-new-rankings-sh1/

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JosephineMaynard · 28/10/2016 23:56

That article seems to be missing a link to the report they've got the information from.

I'd like to know whether my local area is failing or not.

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smellsofelderberries · 29/10/2016 03:43

I recently moved to Australia at 28 weeks and the care I've received (on Medicare, Australia's version of the NHS, so not paid a cent for it), has been above and beyond the care I received in London. I have an anxiety disorder and had no support from the NHS in regards to this (aside from being offered access to an online CBT course that I would do myself). Here, I see a counsellor before each midwife appointment (which I've had weekly since 34 weeks, at my request, as the more frequent contact eases my anxiety significantly), and I also have the phone number of the prenatal psychiatrist should I need to talk to her. I will also have extra community midwife support post-natally, and access to a psychologist through my GP should I feel I need it.
If you present with reduced movements here they do not let you leave after a trace without first doing a bedside Doppler scan to make sure baby is getting enough blood flow and has enough fluid, then you also get a full growth and well being scan for the next day. I have two friends in the UK who's stillbirths could have been avoided had they had Doppler scans when they presented with reduced movements.
In London I felt like my care had a very obvious financial tag attached to it when decisions were made about my care, here I feel like money is no object and I am offered the level of care my providers feels is appropriate, regardless of the monetary value attached to that care. In turn that also eases my anxiety significantly as I have complete faith in my healthcare providers that I'm not being fobbed off due to financial constraints.
We will probably move back to the UK at some point in the next few years but I will not be leaving Australia until we have completed our family.

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Lilyuq · 29/10/2016 12:28

Australia's Medicare system is also complained by Australians. I lived in Brisbane for several years now lived in the u.k. Australian do not know they live in a heaven compared with the NHS in the U.K. Cannot understand why NHS is running so bad. It is a shame for the government how dare they still bragged it in 2012 London Olympic opening.

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Bellabelloo · 29/10/2016 19:14

My hospital is classified as inadequate!!! Which is rather worrying - esp as my pregnancy is high risk.

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OutragedofLondon · 29/10/2016 19:24
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bringmelaughter · 29/10/2016 19:30

Outraged, that link is just the CCG assessments not maternity.

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missyB1 · 29/10/2016 19:31

Yes I can easily believe this. Sadly our maternity units are just not coping with the workload, not enough facilities and not enough midwives. There are definitely some still births happening which could be prevented with better monitoring. Our local Hospital closed its maternity unit a few years ago so all births happen in the next town now but that unit can't cope with the numbers, it's a similar story all over the Country.

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HolesInTheFloor · 29/10/2016 19:37

I'' not surprised. My first birth in 2012 was so horrific (put in a general mixed sex ward as no space in maternity, gave birth completely on my own apart from some drunk bloke who kept sticking his head round the curtains and telling me to stfu) I refused to consider getting pregnant again until we could afford to go private.

If I ever mention the horrific experience I had to anyone you can almost guarantee they'll tell me that we don't know how lucky we are to have the NHS and I'll miss it when it's gone. It's gone already, it's completely unworkable and is so underfunded it's dangerous.

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PinkSwimGoggles · 29/10/2016 19:41

not necessarily underfunded but badly organised and managed.

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FuzzyOwl · 29/10/2016 19:42

Having given birth last year and a fortnight ago in different parts of the country, I am not surprised at all by this.

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LoopyLou1981 · 29/10/2016 19:58

I cannot stand 'NHS-bashing'. Yes, there are countries that have better services than ours but there are far more countries that would do anything to have the sort of services we have free of charge (yes, I know we pay taxes!) and for anyone who needs it.
If you dislike it so much and think it's so terrible then pay to go privately.

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PinkSwimGoggles · 29/10/2016 20:24

I cannot stand putting a non-functioning 'health' service on a pedestal.
it's not working well and some areas are dangerous.
it needs a complete re-organisation.

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FuzzyOwl · 29/10/2016 20:36

Loopy the intention behind the NHS is amazing and widely envied around the world. However, parts of it are not functioning as it should do and just because it is a fantastic service does not mean these failings should be ignored because it is free.

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LoopyLou1981 · 29/10/2016 20:37

So you would prefer a system where you pay for each element of the care you need? You spend your pregnancy saving up for your birth instead of your new baby's clothes, toys and nursery furniture?
Where you think twice about requesting an epidural or an extra night in hospital for breast feeding help because the extra cost it would mean that you then have to shorten your maternity leave?

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FuzzyOwl · 29/10/2016 20:49

I will be paying to go privately for my next pregnancy and labour as a result of my experience. Admittedly, I am lucky that it will not shorten my maternity leave, impact my decisions over my care in hospital or in the build up to the baby's birth.

What I would like to see with the NHS, is what I am sure most people would, that it has the funding and support to operate the way that it should. Some maternity areas are failing and women and babies have unnecessarily died because of this. It is not bashing to say this; it is a fact.

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HolesInTheFloor · 29/10/2016 20:55

Loopy I would prefer a system where I felt I could get treated appropriately and efficiently. Obviously my experiences taint me somewhat.

The NHS in essence is a wonderful thing and the people who founded and implemented it are a true credit to this country. What the stories have done to it is despicable and I think it is now beyond the point of repair (just as they had intended) and something else needs to be implemented. As it is it is unsafe.

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LoopyLou1981 · 29/10/2016 20:59

But there would be more babies and women that would die if the NHS didn't exist. Not everyone is lucky enough to have the money to pay for private care and those people would suffer horribly without the care that the NHS provides.
We'd end up with an elitist society where only wealthy people could afford to have babies. People without the money for private care would end up having babies without medical help and the risks to them and their babies would be huge.
The NHS is doing the best it can with the funding it's got. If you want improved funding then that will mean increases on our taxes but I'm guessing no one is going to like that idea much.

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galaxygirl45 · 29/10/2016 21:01

My DD recently had her 3rd, after a complicated 2nd delivery where she had a pph and needed a balloon in her uterus for 24 hrs and was in HDU. It was a very frightening experience, but this time all her important ante natal appointments were messed up or missed, she had to ring constantly to chase a midwife, her 20 week scan was done at 24 weeks, and when it came to delivery, she was admitted at 10am for induction yet it was 3am when they took her onto the delivery unit, she gave birth at 7am and was discharged by 10am. Her baby wasn't seen by a paed as they don't do that apparently, despite her 2nd having a heart murmur and the aftercare was just as bad. She was classed as high risk yet didn't see the consultant once. I've made her promise no more, it was beyond awful.

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OutragedofLondon · 29/10/2016 21:04

bringme sorry wrong link. It's this one - search by your hospital: www.nhs.uk/service-search/scorecard/results/1173

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doleritedinosaur · 29/10/2016 21:28

I'm not surprised, I'm shocked its not four out of four.

I was at a leading University hospital with my first, because they are stretched, because they are over-worked, because there is no money I ended up with sepsis and severe liver deterioration with pre-term labour of 32 weeks which lead to costing the NHS more money.

Due to that scare-mongering treatment I received, I now stand up for myself and question every medical treatment my family and I have. I no longer go into it blindly, though that was the tip of it.

It also turned out a baby had died in that department 6 months previously but there was and is a media black out.

The NHS is a ticking time bomb, but there are still women going in and out with no issues so that is a positive.

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Oysterbabe · 29/10/2016 21:43

I had a preterm birth and DD had a stay in NICU after. The treatment both DD and I received during birth and beyond was outstanding. They couldn't have done more for us.

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missyB1 · 29/10/2016 21:54

As the above posts show its partly a post code lottery and partly down to the luck of the draw on any given day as to what kind of experience you may have. This is unfortunately true of a lot of hospital care these days. I say that as a Nurse of 25 years married to a Dr.

We should and could have a first class NHS but we don't really want to pay for that apparently.

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MoonlightMojitos · 29/10/2016 22:32

Wow... I'm in south glos which is listed as one of the worst 11 areas in the country. This will be interesting then! Only 8 weeks currently.

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JosephineMaynard · 30/10/2016 00:09

Thanks for the link, Outraged.

I searched for my area - classed as needs improvement.

The interesting thing about that, is that my area has a higher stillbirth rate than the neighbouring area which is one of the worst areas in the country. Looking at all NHS areas, mine is about half way down the list for stillbirth rate, so almost bang on average stillbirth rate for the country.
But they have done better in questionnaires about women's experience and choices than the neighbouring "greatest need for improvement" area.

So I don't really know what to think about that. But I'm not all that reassured by it not being in the worst category, given that the neighbouring NHS area is classed as "one of the 11 areas in most need of improvement" despite being in the half of NHS trusts with the lowest stillbirth rates. Need to find the questions and see what they are, as I don't really understand how the combined rankings work.

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FuzzyOwl · 30/10/2016 09:27

I think I am in the minority where I would pay more in tax if it went to the NHS. I really strongly support the principle of it but it has to be working and functioning as intended to be a success. At present it is sometimes abused by people, short staffed, underfunded and operating on guidelines which are not always in the patient's best interest etc.

Ultimately we do pay for the NHS through our taxes and in the same way we expect to get clean, uncontaminated, drinking water from our taps (which is also envied in parts of the world), it is reasonable and not bashing to expect to receive an proper and safe service from the NHS. When we don't, it is understandable people will want and expect this.

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