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.

It quite sure why my comment was taken like that? You weren't at home you were staying with a friend, if you were so concerned yes you should have got to your hospital, everyone knows how stretched hospitals are at the moment. I didn't say the midwife was right or wrong just that you should have got home ASAP.

300 hundred fucking miles, NOT 3 or even 30!

Honestly....are you reading this thread through a bathroom window?

I'm just going to assume people are bored & want something to argue about!

Oh & when I had a chest infection & was in hospital for it, I was admitted to the MAU, when I was struggling with my mental health & stayed a bit longer due to this where was I admitted?? Oh would you believe it! At the MAU.

Yes refer to MAU, refer being the key point.

If you had gone to the hospital with an A&E you would have been referred to their MAU and would have been seen. It would have saved a lot of time.

But not going to waste my breath you clearly feel you were right, and like I said feel free to ignore everyone else that said the same thing about going to A&E or getting refereed first so they would actually see you. We are all stupid

YANBU and if you have the energy you should absolutely complain. At the MAU at my local hospital, I have no doubt but that you would have been seen (fabulous team that they are). Her response was disgraceful.

Hope you're being monitored now and that all is well. Good luck next weekend.

Finally!

We can stop this back & forth crap!

I am currently being monitored at my local hospital (everything is fine), just asked the MIDWIFE as a hypothetical question as I wanted her own opinion

"If I was to go away whilst pregnant & there was an issue I.E fetal movements, would I go to a&e??"

Her reply?

"No, you would go to the assessment unit, you can however go to a&e but they will simply redirect you to the assessment unit....you simply present yourself & they will assess you, just make sure you know your closest MAU is before you go".

THIS THREAD IS NOW SETTLED!

Thank you to the "normal" people who confirmed the above, apologies to the ones who argued, at least you now know not to waste yours OR a&e's time going there!

lucy I've presented at an MAU four times in my life, and never been through A&E. Clearly Doesn't work like that everywhere so It's perfectly possible the OP wasn't wrong. Even if she was, to send her on her way without advice on how to access care given her situation was unprofessional at best and inhumane at worst.

You aren't stupid Lucy, you are simply misinformed!

No hard feelings!

Yes I was right, it's been confirmed.

When I use the word refer, I don't mean forms & all that crap....I simply mean diverted.

YANBU
In your situation I would have done the same thing, she shouldn't have turned you away. It could be that the trust policy is different at that particular hospital to yours.

However she made no attempt to direct you where to go and potentially put your baby at risk. For that reason I'd complain also.

To me, its the equivalent of me (I have crohns) having a severe flare up and then just going straight to the gastro unit of the hospital and asking them to assess me.

It's not the equivalent of that at all, as has already been explained upthread. MAUs exist so that people don't go through A&E. It was the right place for the OP to go.

So glad that all is well, OP. I hope that other midwife is at least severely reprimanded.

Glad you got monitored, it's rubbish just waiting to be induced.

I'm not one normally for urging people to complain about things but when it comes to the health service I very much champion the need to lodge a formal complaint if the treatment provided was less than adequate and in your case it was in my opinion.

To be honest (and I know this won't be a popular opinion) I am sick to the back teeth of the NHS; People on here though seem to think that NHS workers are the holy grail of professionalism and that is very far from the actual truth.

If you feel you should complain then do and don't be deterred from doing so by the NHS fan club on Mumsnet!

I think you are being unreasonable complaining, I have had a history of miscarriage and still births and was told that you need to ring before turning up. The NHS is overstretched, the midwife probably had other patients who equally needed her attention. While she could have seen you or advised you if you rang you are not able to see what is going on on ward. Even in active labour you have to ring first or go via a and e not just turn up at the ward. The midwife probably could have handled it better. How far away was you base hospital as this is the crux of the matter

The op did try to ring, more than 20 times and was told he her midwife who she has now seen that you don't go through A&E.

I'm also astonished at going to A&e in labour and expecting them to pass you on to the right place. That's very unusual.

I am sick to the back teeth of the NHS; People on here though seem to think that NHS workers are the holy grail of professionalism and that is very far from the actual truth

Based on your anecdotes?

The NHS is massively underfunded. It's no wonder people are incredibly stretched and as a result it shows.

I've had plenty of bad service in the private sector so would suggest it's incredibly naive to think that just because something is "private", it is better.

Shiraznowplease:

The OP did ring. What else was she supposed to do? Sorry about your personal history but you can't expect people to risk their babies' lives rather than seek help, just because the NHS is overstretched. They should have examined her.

" You said you wouldn't want to go 30 mins in the opposite direction to A&E only to be told to backtrack on yourself and go to the maternity unit but presumably a hospital with A&E facilities would also have a maternity unit and monitoring"

Not always. My nearest 4 a&e depts, only one has a maternity dept. So if you went to one of the other three you'd have a 45-60min journey to the one with a MAU.

I think you are being unreasonable complaining, I have had a history of miscarriage and still births and was told that you need to ring before turning up. The NHS is overstretched, the midwife probably had other patients who equally needed her attention. While she could have seen you or advised you if you rang you are not able to see what is going on on ward. Even in active labour you have to ring first or go via a and e not just turn up at the ward. The midwife probably could have handled it better. How far away was you base hospital as this is the crux of the matter

Oh looky here 👀

Another poster who hasn't read the whole thread!

Given your history, I'd suggest you go straight to MAU's in future.

Finally I will repeat what I've already said, you don't go to a&e unless you want them to simply give you directions to the MAU, you go straight there.

As another PP politely reminded you, I called continuously, no answer so rather than continue wasting my time, I went in.

And! A woman actually went in to labour & came straight to the MAU ward as expected by the midwife, whom also confirmed I go to them & NOT a&e.

I have now been monitored, ironically they couldn't get a good enough trace to discharge me due to my baby moving TOO much (although the doctors said this was a good sign), which resulted in me being there for 6 hours! & only just getting home.

All is well & I will still be going ahead with being induced on Saturday unless anyone wants to tell me how that would be unreasonable??

Yes that is sarcasm, yes I'm shattered & only going to bed now & yes I will continue to repeat myself like a child should anyone else decide to comment telling me I was being U for not ringing &! Not going a&e!

Love mumsnet! Keeps me entertained for hours.

Night guys! Thanks to the ones who can read! & also are savvy & actually know things about MAU's!

Oh & lastly yes the NHS is underfunded & over stretched however, I was hardly going to stay at home thinking "better not go in, NHS is rammed and let's be fair, this isn't exactly important, il leave the ones who take their kids up to a&e for a broken finger to have the care they so desperately need over the movements of my unborn baby!"

You've all seen the statistics of a&e, kids being taken up for falling over, broken fingers, superficial cuts, scrapes, colds, headaches.

To the against party, you can all bitch at me when I take my child to hospital for a cut knee after falling off his bike!

Oh &! Do any of you ever call before you head to a&e?? Nope you simply turn up! Don't take into account that they are extremely busy no??

Anyways I could go on & on about this all day but I'm knackered!

I'm sure il wake up to a lot more comments from people who didn't read any replies to catch up before they posted.

Appreciate the advice though!!

Good luck with the rest of your
Pregnancy OP and onwards

Thank you! only 5 more days to go!

Oh OP I'm infuriated on your behalf for both the midwife's reaction and the idiots on this thread! I would definitely complain to PALS about this. Yes the NHS is overstretched but that doesn't mean you should get turned away like this and you absolutely did the right thing in the situation you were in.

Anyway I'm glad all is well and good luck with the induction.

The NHS is massively underfunded. It's no wonder people are incredibly stretched and as a result it shows.

Everyone is aware the NHS is overstretched, underfunded and understaffed. This isn't a blanket 'get out of jail free card' for those professionals who don't behave very professionally.

On a busy Saturday night, I've had paramedics and resus staff save my life at one hospital. Been on the HDU ward and witnessed only two doctors covering the HDU ward all night. One lady was that poorly that both doctors were needed for her when she was admitted. Thankfully, no one on the ward chose to have a heart attack at the same time or they'd have been up the creek. I started to go downhill again at the same time and my nurse had to deal with me as there was no available doctor to come help. I know all about them struggling.
On the other hand I've also had a doctor, send me home whilst on a neb when he assessed me. I was rushed back in even poorlier. That wasn't funding cuts. That was down to the doctors arrogance. If he hadn't been so quick in rushing me home I wouldn't have used several more expensive resources being rushed back in!

The purpose of the MAU is that they are generally more specialised in obstetrics and whichever way you paint it. The MW was in the wrong to turn the OP away without even doing basic checks on a high risk pregnancy.

To the PP that asked if the OP had had the baby then. What does that matter?
My friend's Mum gave birth on the hospital entrance floor, something like thirty minutes after being turned away by a MW (they were halfway home when she told her husband they needed to go back). This was about twelve years ago. Again. Was that down to funding cuts too?

You've all seen the statistics of a&e, kids being taken up for falling over, broken fingers, superficial cuts, scrapes, colds, headaches.

To be fair OP. My DD and I are both severe asthmatics. A cold can turn very serious for me and her. I ended up in resus with 'just a cold'. That had turned into a nasty chest infection by then.

I haven't read the whole thread but I couldn't work out if the OP had told the MW she was high risk or not.

And my post was in response to the person who said she was sick of the NHS. My point was that you get bad customer service everywhere and actually a bit of context explains it.

OP - I turned up at a hospital which wasn't mine and had my baby there 25mins later. No fuss or anything. I didn't have a word said to me. I had s private room in the birthing suite, stayed overnight and then went home.

My own hospital had turned me away as not being in labour. So yes you can turn up - that's why you take your notes.

I hope everything is ok