To think that some people expect too much from overworked NHS staff?

[Moomin8]

I'm in hospital to be induced. What they tend to do is put a propess in and then when your cervix is ready, move you over to delivery suite to break waters. I'm on the anti natal ward.

A lady in the bed opposite me yesterday has been here since Friday evening and since yesterday lunch time she's been complaining (and crying) over and over to staff that she was told her induction would take 48 hours and that this is not acceptable. She is not in labour currently. Her husband came in and then started a long rant about how he needs to go back to work tomorrow, can't spend his life in a hospital and that he knows someone who works at the hospital who told him the staff are deliberately leaving his wife til last.

I've heard people explain to them over and over that nobody can be in the delivery suite without 1:1 care from a midwife and that some midwives are off sick.

NHS staff work so hard. If people can't afford the Lindo wing I think they should accept that everyone is doing their best!

Yes @Teachermaths I agree - that happened to me too. But I see it as underfunding caused by the government that's to blame.

I’m just curious as to what the “anti natal” ward is...

🙄 I'm having contractions myself don't expect me to spell 😂

How does underfunding mean that people are telling you different things though? Seeing 3 different people is probably a result of underfunding so perhaps that partly explains some of it. My risk didn't change throughout pregnancy, so why did I have totally different options depending on who I saw. They should all be singing from the same hymn sheet.

I love the NHS. Without it I wouldn't be here and nor would numerous relatives. But the way pregnant women are treated is awful at times. If she was told 48 hours she's probably pretty frustrated right now. If the original midwife had said 48 hours minimum, it could be 4 days, the lady would probably feel a lot better right now.

With my first EMCS a midwife warned me about 4 hours before that a CS could be a possibility. I'm forever grateful she did so I could slightly mentally prepare.

I think also that obstetrics is one of those areas of medicine where consultants and midwives base their advice on their own experiences a lot. So if you see several it can become confusing.

How does underfunding mean that people are telling you different things though?

Because underfunding = lack of staff consistency

I know you can't really plan a labour ward but I found with my induction there was a lot of assumption. Assumption nothing would happen with me for ages, assumption I knew I'd have to go on the ward with other women who were in for monitoring, assumption I knew that my waters breaking prematurely meant 12 hours of monitoring for infection. If I hadn't done antenatal classes, I would have been a bit terrified on arrival to be asked if I wanted an epidural for the terrible pain of the drip, before they'd even told me there was a pessary first. I wasn't believed when I was rapidly going from 4cm-10cm and ended up jumping the queue by about 2 days, no drip needed. So I can completely understand why this woman is confused but someone should really explain to her properly that 48 hours guaranteed is rubbish.

To add to the usual under funding of the NHS, we are now in the grip of winter pressures again, not only an influx of people and greater demand on all services, but less staff available as they or their own family are sick. Staffing any ward is awful right now.

I totally agree re assumption. The last consultant I saw was talking about mechanical vs medical induction. I sat there like WTF are you even talking about. At no point did she explain, even when I asked. She also wrote lots of stuff in my notes following an internal examination but said nothing to me. I can barely read what she's written so I don't have a clue. I understand that for the staff it's easy to assume everyone is an "expert" but we really aren't.

I think almost everyone has an example of when care and communication could be better, most of the frustrations I see are from families not understanding the process and what happens once a patient arrives. I work in a mental health hospital and our way of working is very different, we dont do ward rounds, we dont discuss a pt whilst stood at the end of the bed. We cannot say how long recovery is expected to be. Families often want outcomes straight away and don't appreciate that we have to observe the individual in order to assess. I think some people believe we can just prescribe a medication and send them home. I wish this were the case. My biggest frustration as a hcp is people telling me they "know people" and have researched a medication on Google. That and a total lack of acceptance that we actually know what we are doing most of the time.

I'm ignoring your post just because I want to know when the little one arrives 😂😂😂

Was tempted to do the ..... but decided to be honest and say congratulations, I hope your labour goes lovely and you won't have to think about her in a little while.

On the other hand when a relative spent 10 weeks in hospital in a coma the staff on HDU were so realistic and honest. From day 1 they were excellent and explained everything all of the time.

If maternity care was like that I would have no issues. But it often isn't. Hence women are scared, their partners get anxious and upset too. An understaffed ward and fake expectations creates the perfect storm.

You dont know her though, they could be stressed out because some daft doctor told them 48 hours. They cant afford to be off work so planned they're days off round it and now it's all going tits up. Shes in pain shes tired etc. She could have people babysitting her other kids and they're only gonna do it for 48 hours. Who knows. Its shitty on both parts and the process of induction should have been explained better. Yes theres not much they can do it about it but sounds like a rubbish situation all round.

@BuntyCollocks If they want a Guarantee of when their baby will be out by, book an elective section.

Yeah, best of luck with that on the NHS if there’s no pressing medical need (and even if there is!)

Think you’re being harsh OP
I’ve had a tough pregnancy so far with a couple of hospital stays, luckily all well attended to. However, being in hospital can be horrible and stressful, especially if you’re waiting endlessly for something that should have happened X days ago and still nobody can give you a time.

They may have other children at home, he may not be able to afford any further time off. They may have booked/planned everything around what they were told would happen and now nobody is telling them anything other than ‘to wait’.

If I’d gone in for a ‘48 hour induction’ and wasn’t even in the early stages by the end of that time I’d be very irritated/annoyed.
They are wasting so much money/resources by keeping her in a bed with nothing happening. Think I’d have a bit more sympathy for her tbh but then again you’re in labour so 👍🏻 It’s ok for you!

For my first DC my waters broke but my contractions were not consistent for 48 hours so I was told to get to the hospital to be induced. I was originally planning to give birth in a birthing centre as I had a traumatic hospital stay as a child where I lost half my hearing. I got to the hospital only to be told they were not going to induce me until the morning and they just wanted me to stay the night so I could save the bed space. I rarely cry usually but I was petrified and crying. In the end it was a horrific birth that ended in an epsiotomy and forceps so I had to stay even longer. I think it did affect me mentally as I kept hearing 'phantom cries' of several babies at once for a few days after I got home.

You really don't know her history or what additional stresses/ pressures she is under so you can't really judge her fairly tbh.

• Also they 100% do prioritise people as they see fit. I’ve benefited from this on numerous occasions now (indirectly) but can see how this would annoy people.

@Teachermaths But then, if you would have had a meltdown because of you being so vulnerable and mixed up, it would probably have been seen as totally unreasonable.
OP - I don't think people expect too much from the NHS staff. I just think that when people are in hospital, it's a hard time, and they can definitely sound unreasonable. The staff are usually trained to be pretty nice about it, in general.

Maybe I am being harsh but I have children at home who I miss. and she definitely doesn't - it's her first baby and she's about 20. Ive been here since Wednesday 🤷🏻‍♀️ I just don't see the point of complaining at all. What does it actually achieve? If people stopped voting the Tories in we'd have better services.

@AnxiousandExcited I did have a bit of a meltdown and the consultant tried to pull it back. But by then I was feeling vulnerable and exposed. It was horrible. The point is I shouldn't have had to get to that point.

Some people do expect too much. Ive seen and heard them while staying in hospital. I try not to expect a lot but there are times when care could be a lot better.

You will never believe how self centred and unpleasant some people can be until you've been a clinician in the NHS

I think the pp who is an A&E nurse who mentioned expectations etc is right. Not that an A&E nurse needs my endorsement on a hospital thread . The woman's husband sounds like a twat though, obviously.

I remember after having dc2, the morning after, when a mum was brought food, she was absolutely outraged as she hadn't ordered food and it was disgusting. Maybe she felt dreadful, but apart from the droning on about disgusting hospital food (it wasn't bad at all tbh) she at least appeared to be fine. She also snored, bloody loudly, for most of the night and late into the morning, so can't blame lack of sleep!

I suppose I'm also a little surprised she'd want her waters broken when she's not in labour because my own experience of that is pretty bad 🙈🙈

I agree with lots of posters that this woman may have other things to worry about and that this delay is impacting on that. This will only add to her worry.
I do think the OP has the right to be annoyed though, this woman is also impacting on her experience.
As someone who knows first hand what it's like to be understaffed and running a ward, I find it very difficult to hear people complain about having to wait or their perceived needs not being met.

I suppose it's possible that her dh is pressuring her which we don't see.