To make a complaint against midwife who turned me away

[Toobloodytired]

So yesterday, I was feeling a bit worried as baby had gone a little quiet, his movements had reduced (not stopped), I've been staying with a friend in her area which is outside of where I normally receive my usual pregnancy care.

I tried to ring the hospital to get advice but after so many calls I had to go in.

Saw a healthcare assistant who asked if I had an app and my name, told her my name & said no, then very rudely replied with "well I'm still going to need your name aren't I!"

So I firmly replied with "I just told you my name was .....".

She went off to speak with the midwife right outside the door, midwife was asking a lot for of questions & finally came in to see me.

She then told me that I had to go back to the hospital who normally deals with me as they don't have a computer system & know nothing of me, I informed her I brought my notes which would tell her everything they needed to know.

She told me it didn't matter

She then "advised me to go to my hospital of care"

I asked "are you telling me you won't check to make sure the baby was okay?

She then repeated "I advise you to go to the hospital who usually deals with you".

I then very firmly asked again, "so you are turning me away & wont monitor me?"

Her reply?

"Yes, we are a bit busy too".

She turned me away, told me to go to the hospital I usually deal with even though I explained I was completely out of area, she then lied & said my notes made no difference, which is shite. Then told me I had to leave even though I was concerned about my sons movements.

I'm 36+2 btw.

Did you present at A&E or an MIU or at a maternity unit?

I went to a maternity unit who deal with monitoring & what not

I expect that fact that you were actually having movements coupled with the unit being busy and with you not being from that area means that you were probably not seen as a priority. She probably could have explained it better and been a bit less brusque but given overstretched services i can sort of see why you were turned away.

I would put a formal complaint in

I hope everything is OK with you and your baby. I am not in the UK so this may color my answer.

Yes you should complain if you go to a hospital with a health condition and they turn you away without at least examining you. Where I am there is a legal requirement for ERs to stabilize patients before discharging them. That requires an exam.

If you had been in a traffic accident or fallen over and been concerned would that midwife still have insisted that you be transported to your area hospital? That is what worries me about this, that there could have been something seriously wrong and it got missed.

How far away was your normal hospital?

If you could still feel movements and they were busy and you were presenting as physically fine, then I don't think they were unreasonable to send you away.

Contact PALS and complain. Even if they were very busy and over capacity, they were rude and that alone was unnecessary.

Sorry!

Forgot to add, I've got OC....I am being induced on Saturday due to higher risk of stillbirth.

I don't normally advocate complaining about overstretched NHS staff but actually I think I would contact PALS about this, yes.

Reduced foetal movements can be an urgent warning sign that something is seriously wrong and should never be ignored.

Did you get to your usual hospital for monitoring in the end? I hope so and that everything is OK. Best of luck with the remainder of your pregnancy and beyond!

That is rather rubbish.
If you were really worried, I I think you should have gone to A&E.
There is no easy access into hospital which I assume where the maternity unit, except via a GP or A&E or referral from an Minor Injuries Unit.
Sorry but that's just the way it is. I'm not agreeing with it, BTW!

I think you should complain too. They should have examined you :(

I think it was very poor. The bottom line is that there is a baby involved here and you were worried about the wellbeing of that baby. She could have told you you would have to wait, but turning you away altogether was irresponsible.

I don't think you can just turn up at a hospital department and demand care. You have to follow the correct paths.

I guess maybe it depends a bit how far from your usual hospital you were? If within an hour- I can see she might have thought, given you were feeling some movement, that an hours journey was reasonable, given that you may have had a wait of that long anyway if they had emergencies to deal with. If longer than that than I think they should have seen you really. No reason for her to be rude either way. I hope you did get checked and all is ok with your baby xx

she sounds hideous... I too would complain if even to prevent someone not as confident as yourself being turned away too ...

Agree with Adelie0404.

Did you get checked out in the end and was everything ok?

It's not ideal but they were in their right to turn you away.

How far were you from usual
Hospital?

I'm sorry but I'm with the midwife. You can't just turn up at any old hospital and expect to be seen without an appointment.

The midwife had a duty of care to me and my baby, especially given the circumstances.

What if every hospital I went to said "nope can't just turn up expecting us to help".

That is exactly what hospitals are for regardless of whether they are busy or not.

The unit I went to was maternity.

I'm sorry but I'm with the midwife. You can't just turn up at any old hospital and expect to be seen without an appointment

Surely you can if it's a potential emergency?!
I would complain too. Did you tell them about the OC?

But how far away was the hospital you are registered at?

I don't know what OC is.

But you don't access care by going directly to the department you want, that's not how the NHS works.

You could have phoned the contact numbers you have for care locally to you for advice. You could have phoned 111 for advice. You could have gone to a and e. You can't just turn up though

You absolutely can turn up at any old hospital if you've got your notes. That's the point of taking your notes everywhere. Units like that aren't run on an appointment only basis. I went three times in pregnancy to my local unit and even if they thought i was being overly cautious they didn't let on.

ANY change in movement is important and i had that drummed into me by my midwife from day one.

I would absolutely complain because it's their responsibility to at least stick you on a monitor and then if they're too busy to keep you in then ask you to go to another hospital.

What if every hospital I went to said "nope can't just turn up expecting us to help".

That is exactly what hospitals are for regardless of whether they are busy or not.

The unit I went to was maternity.

You can't just turn up at any hospital, maternity or not, and expect treatment. That's just the way it is. You have to go through the correct channels and it doesn't sound like you did.