Aibu to be getting fed up with NHS

[naty1]

Im pg and when making booking appt with mw i said can i make it sooner than 9wks (it was less than 6wks at the time) as i could see 12 weeks would fall over Xmas. Mw says dont worry theyre still open most of the time and they had no earlier booking appts.
So had booking this week and got NT scan date letter today.
For 14+1 :( :(
As its ivf im pretty certain of date but that doesnt mean their estimate of 14+1 always works for everyone as the baby could easily be a day at least bigger making it a big waste of time.
I see they are going to be busy over xmas but dont think its acceptable. Its over a month away so they must be able to plan their appointments and its not like im delayed from 12 weeks by 3 days to 12+3 but over2 weeks later.
Though i guess thinking about it they are probably short staffed from now till new year

As its the weekend i cant call or do anything but be upset, as i can see them having any appts to change to. They are likely to be even later. I wish we could be involved in choosing appt rather than - you are given it

I just feel the 'service' im getting from nhs has been quite poor.
(DC1 my nt scan magically became only a pointless dating (due to ivf) due to paperwork error though to their credit they squeezed a nt scan in later that week)

It's not 'free'. We all pay for it through our not inconsiderable taxes.

OP I don't think YABU to expect your first scan to be within guideline dates. I would certainly complain (politely of course).

Personally I have had a great NHS experience thus far with both pregnancies (save for the usual horror of postnatal ward).

Eh? You sound a bit precious, and very demanding, and I actually cannot figure out what is is exactly you are unhappy about in amongst the ranting.
Yes YABU, the US

It is within guideline dates, smogsville.

Where I live the scanning department are working until xmas eve, this time last year I was pregnant with dd2 and had my 1st scan on the 24th, not sure when they go back after but will assume it's before January.

You can get a package of the Harmony test and nuchal scan at the Fetal Medicine Centre with a free harmony repeat if it doesn't work the first time.

However the NHS isn't free, it is funded by taxes. I don't like the argument that we should put up with whatever we get just because we don't individually fund each of our specific treatments.

you shouldn't have to go private if nhs is available but in your case nhs is available its just not on your terms

and on the fact that it will be more money wouldn't you have to pay more if you needed more ivf in the future ?
either put up or go private your option

Funding to the NHS is insufficient, if we were all happy to pay more for it, it might work better. It is not however a bottomless pit.

I love the fact that most of the people on here are assuming the OP can go private. Just like the hospital, upon incorrectly dealing with paperwork for a MRI to find out if I have damaged my spine and thus putting me back a few months, said, "If she is distressed, she can always go private."

OP, YANBU. We have paid for a service. It's a shitty service currently because there isn't enough money. Yes, there are inefficiencies that contribute towards this - for example I have taken one GP appointment every week for the last seven weeks to get a repeat prescription of some medication. I had to see an OOH GP at a different practice for another reason, asked for my repeat and he gave me 100 pills instead of the 30 the previous GPs had prescribed... I have no idea why they didn't prescribe 100 once it became clear it was a repeat prescription. So far that means I have taken 4 mornings/afternoons off work unnecessarily and 4 GPs' appointments needlessly. Not to mention all the extra prescription charges. Having said this, the NHS is the most efficient health service, per pound (or equivalent), for what it provides in Europe.

We don't have to accept a crumbling service... we could just pay for a better one through collective taxation if there isn't enough money in the existing govt coffers and I bet there is, it's a matter of priorities, for example start enforcing tax law more efficiently and close existing loopholes. I don't understand why more people wouldn't be happy to do this - having been on the wrong end of some very shit NHS postcode lottery treatment, I certainly would.

Call the hospital on Monday and ask if there is an earlier date. Appointments change all the time as people rearrange them.

YABU about the NHS. It does an extraordinary job. And stop googling about DS and possible issues. You'll drive yourself batty.

purple as ive said there is absolutely no guarantee or even probably much likelihood of a 14+1 baby being measured as that on a dating scan.
Previous experience with scans moving dates. And apparently after 12 or 13 weeks accuracy of dating goes down.
Of course i can argue - it is that age but if its too large - they WILL not do the measurements as it wont be accurate. Having seen that happen to people who got dates wrong.
If measurements are based on average growth on any particular day 50% will be larger and 50% smaller.
As my date is 100% accurate, unlike 90something% other pregnancies im sure its more likely that that baby could be a day or 2 too large.

Probably more so as ivf babies tend to be born early (as DC was) and still over 50th percentile.
Im not sure how DC1 measured at 12 weeks but i know they changed the EDD by a few days.
Though the mood im in i dont think ill allow them to change the date this time, why take something and make it wrong.
I think actually they did make it earlier by 3 days - suggesting a larger baby at 12 or 20 weeks - oh no! And DC appeared 1 day earlier so they were closer.

Fleur thats interesting - didnt know. Shows how useless diagnosing based on anomalies like heart defects at 20w would be though if it only affects 50%. However 50% is still pretty significant and a huge cost.
Surely the range of ability varies widely though, as with anything, so impossible to predict how much help each child would need.

But i think the cost must be the reason nhs offer the testing. Overall cost.

I hope harmony will get rolled out and that will be much more accurate.

Its great there is a test at all.

I could try the ivf clinic - its on the same site not sure if they could help though but could be worth a try.

Again 94% of people with positive DS abort so i dont know maybe a few thousand for the op. Clearly saving loads.
No 100% to abort with DS no different to most other people as above. Why would i make a fuss of it otherwise?
Its already been a very hard journey.

Tinselalffe i completely agree.

As well about the repeats, ive started to write how many i want on the request, i was getting less than a month then with 2 diff meds in gps for request and chemist twice a month. What a waste of time them signing all of those. I get 2 months worth now.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
Im hoping like others have had they just have had a cancellation and move it. Surely some people cant make xmas appts.

I'm a bit confused - Naty1 are you saying that you are considering terminating the pregnancy if the NT test comes back with a high-ish probability? Or the fact that you have spent £10k to conceive this baby means that you really want it, no matter what? Or are you just NHS bashing? Ime the NHS is a valuable and vitally important resource available to us all.

In which case call the ultrasound department on Monday and ask if they've got any cancellations. I'm sure people cancel especially over Christmas and if you're flexible on day/time/location then I'm sure they will try to help you.

You sound pretty stressed out by it all, but give them chance to bring you forward by a few days. However, if it was me and I was desperate to have the NT scan done, I'd look into private scans as a back up in case there's no appointment space to move you forward into.

I'm lost Op. What difference does it make ifyour dates differ by a day or 2, or even 3?!

Pay to go private if you feel the nhs isn't living up to your standards

Pay to go private if you feel the nhs isn't living up to your standards

And that, in a nutshell, is why the NHS is on its knees. No one cares enough to fund it properly because all the people whose additional taxes would make a difference think "I'm all right Jack" and carry on.

I'm going to have to hide this thread now, it's doing absolutely nothing for my blood pressure.

Best of luck OP.

I really don't see what your issue is though? You think the dating scan will be too late to give you a 100% accurate due date, but you had IVF so really, you already know your date.

And your screening will be a few days late but again, does that have a specific impact?

yes, very.

Sure if you have plenty of money, in most cases if you dont have pots of money, the care you receive can be none to dodgy. But dont let that stand in your way.

You're obviously stressed but you haven't even called to see if it can be moved yet. You seem to have made lots of assumptions which may not be true. They may be able to move it if you explain your concerns and there is no reason why they would be short staffed from now till new year. Not sure why you think that about staffing, most NHS staff will be working as normal till Xmas eve and there is generally just reduced (weekend type staffing) on the bank hols.

Iamrandom im assuming that because people have children and as they are off that whole time some parents will too.

If people RTFT they will see why it makes a difference.
Clearly i dont care about the dating scan but as ive said they will use that date for the NT cut off so im convinced i'll go and get 'oh dear youre actually 14+3 so too late.'

If the baby is too large you cannot get an accurate measurement
And may not be able to see it to measure it.
The tolerance on scans is about -/+4 days.
I think there is a very good chance (80%) that date will be a complete waste of time. Without including a reduction in accuracy.
The more inaccurate the dating scan the further out it will be from my dates.

And yes relatives abroad have been getting frankly amazing treatment (s. America) yes private, but then we are all paying for this already.

To those who think the date is fine (its an opinion, i may think youre crazy but then i most likely have had more contact with nhs recently and certainly in this part of the country) i honestly think its necessary to be proactive/informed or youll get screwed. Or sadly screwed no matter how gard you work to avoid it.

Maybe a line in nhs guidelines '14+1 according to our dating scan, which may differ to actual or assumed dates. Please allow x days for margin of error due to babies naturally differing in size. As we cannot get an accurate measurement once the baby is over xx mm, which is usually at this stage'

This could be why NICE recommends 13+6 as it gives a leeway of 2 days, though that isnt huge when people can be a week out. But maybe 13+6 is just more accurate.

Yes silly to be worrying when it could be easily sorted on monday. Hopefully just an error inputting my data and they usually offer earlier appts.

If not i'll raise my (many) concerns and probably make a complaint.

Then call to see about a private scan (though by the pricing info it is only rassurance not NT unless you pay for harmony -650)

Must be nice to be able to afford to go private. Im sure not many can afford it what with already paying for nhs. But anyway its no guarantee of better care/service as the training is nhs, they still have admin staff, consultants dont always know what they are talking about. But you might get seen quicker which can obviously be a life saver.
I am not anti-nhs but please someone sort them out! I bet its the cause of some peoples anxiety/depression. It certainly has that affect on me.

I cant be bothered to return as the majority of people disagreeing havent read what ive said or cant usderstand the reasons
or are just supporting the nhs with no comment on what ive said.

But i do agree i should be able to receive my letter, happily go 14+1 no problem they must know something i dont i'll trust them after all they are the professionals.
But i just dont and i cant, it would be much easier if i could be like you lot who love everything the nhs does and have never experienced a screw up.
And i think (clearly ) im not alone in this, we all think we know better and everyone having to check, just in case is adding even more pressure.

Some of the posts on here are horrible. Saying 'If you've paid 10k you should love the child no matter what'. Maybe she would love that child too much to put it through a lifetime of poor health, pain, crap social care and an early death and would prioritise that more than the money she's spent?

It is frustrating when you have to pay for your own fertility treatment. The NHS spends millions every year on women who don't want to become pregnant, men who can't get it up because of unhealthy lifestyles and people who are ill because they eat crap and smoke. But if you have a genuine illness like PCOS or endometriosis through no fault of your own and you want to get pregnant often you're on your own. Then to have insult added to injury by being forced to go private for routine care which you've already paid for via tax would just be a slap in the face.

I suspect if the OP hadn't mentioned fertility treatment the responses would have been a lot more supportive. Having been through fertility treatment I know from experience that in a lot of women there is nothing more likely to bring out spite and bile.

And incidentally, 'You've spent 10k so you can afford it' shows a bit of a basic misunderstanding of maths. If the OP has spent 10k already she's likely to have a lot less in the kitty than someone who's been lucky enough to fall pregnant naturally.