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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to complain to hospital

25 replies

ladydorito · 27/11/2022 14:20

Hey everyone.

I wanted some advice on how I can assertively stop the early pregnancy unit at my local hospital from continually discharging me.

Situation is this: was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma at 6 weeks. This causes sporadic but very scary bleeding. I have had three "big" bleeds with clots and a smaller one today. The bleeds are normally followed by a week of spotting or so. Each time baby has been checked on a scan and is fine although I am aware SCH can cause complications so it's very hard for me to relax.

I'm now 11+1.

The issue I'm having is that the unit keeps discharging me after every scan. What this means in practise is that each time I have a fresh bleed, I'm told I need a referral from my midwife/GP to be allowed back onto the unit for a check up.

Today, when I rang the unit having suffered yet another scary bleed, I was told they couldn't scan me without this referral. Last time it happened, my midwife advised me to go to A and E as it would be quicker than her having to wait for a referral to come through, which I did. I had to sit bleeding and wailing in A and E for hours - only to be sent to the unit I knew I needed to be on in the first place.

I told the nurse on the phone today I wasn't prepared to do that again - that I had been diagnosed with a condition on the EPU that hadn't resolved and that I didn't understand why I kept being discharged from their care. I would get it if I'd had a random bleed once, but they've found a 4cm haemorrhage in my womb, they can't just keep sending me away and telling me I'm discharged and all will be fine when I've bled so many times.

The chances of me getting a referral from my GP or midwife on a Sunday to allow be to be seen tomorrow are next to nil.

Anyway she agreed under duress - I was very distressed by this point - to scan me tomorrow following today's bleed, but I know the same is going to happen again, I'll be sent home, discharged, bleed again and the horrible cycle begins.

I have the highest respect for these wonderful nurses but I need to start advocating for better care. My husband and parents are just boggled that they can keep on discharging me when there's a clear recurring issue which poses a risk to the pregnancy not to mention my mental health.

Does anyone have any tips/language I could use in my appointment tomorrow to basically beg them not to discharge me?

Thank you so much - and if anyone has also had a hematoma and has any advice/positive stories, please let me know. This is our first baby, and so very very wanted. I am heartbroken that my womb is letting them down.

AIBU in wanting to beg them to stop discharging me so I can access care in a timely manner?

OP posts:
erinaceus · 27/11/2022 14:24

To clarify: is the issue that you think that if the EPU do not discharge you, you think that you will be able to access their care again more quickly if you do start bleeding again if you do not have to get a referral from your GP or midwife but can just call them up and ask to be seen?

ChristmasisRuined · 27/11/2022 14:30

erinaceus · 27/11/2022 14:24

To clarify: is the issue that you think that if the EPU do not discharge you, you think that you will be able to access their care again more quickly if you do start bleeding again if you do not have to get a referral from your GP or midwife but can just call them up and ask to be seen?

OP literally states exactly this in her last paragraph

Original poster
ladydorito · 27/11/2022 14:30

Yes, sorry! Basically primary care is crap in my area like so many other places due to cuts etc. My midwife only works 3 days a week and my GP surgery doesn't even have a phone line you can ring anymore - you have to put an online form in which then is triaged by a receptionist. It can take days if not weeks. So if eg today the unit hadn't agreed to scan me, I would need to contact my GP tomorrow via online form and it could conceivably be the back end of the week before they got round to putting a referral through.

OP posts:
Thedogscollar · 27/11/2022 14:30

Hi OP that's ridiculous I can understand your frustration. In our unit you would have open access because of uour underlying condition.
The NHS is so overly complicated with no need. This time should be as relaxed for you as possible. I wish you all the best in your pregnancy.

ChristmasisRuined · 27/11/2022 14:31

I would speak to PALS, OP. They're potentially putting your baby at risk by causing an unnecessary delay in you being seen every time you bleed.

LadyMarmaladeAtkins · 27/11/2022 14:35

Yep, complain and don't back down. Also get your GP to write to them to back you up. Next time you bleed in the meantime, go straight to hospital. Use your judgement as to whether this is to A&E, EPU or maternity. This is ridiculous and wrong.

erinaceus · 27/11/2022 14:42

I think that that is the problem that you need to put to them. To them, your midwife is leading your care, and you can access EPU services via GP, midwife or A&E. If you are worried that none of these routes is fast enough to prevent serious danger to you and your baby, I would discuss this explicitly. i.e. given the realistic timescales involved, is there likely to be a risk to you and your baby, and if there is, how long is the timescale (hours? days?) and how can this risk be mitigated.

Pregnant women can self-refer to some EPU, so one option you have is to have a Google and see if there is one of these near enough to you and it would be faster to access care that way.

Prinnny · 27/11/2022 14:53

You could ask them for open access, which would mean you can self refer as it is a recurrent problem. However they may refuse if they have a protocol in place that the patient is triaged by the referer first to check they are stable enough for the unit, which it sounds is the case.

SnackSizeRaisin · 27/11/2022 15:09

Surely you don't have to go through your own named midwife? There should be a team of which at least one is on call 24 7. Plus there should be a maternity triage. Are you sure there is no other way in. Maybe these only apply later in pregnancy but you are not far off 12 weeks and won't be under EPU then

noeyesbarry · 27/11/2022 15:21

ChristmasisRuined · 27/11/2022 14:31

I would speak to PALS, OP. They're potentially putting your baby at risk by causing an unnecessary delay in you being seen every time you bleed.

they’re not putting the baby at risk because nothing can be done to ‘fix’ a SCH. there’s nothing EPU (or a&e or anyone) can do about it

CoconutQueen · 27/11/2022 15:29

I work in this field. I know it's tough when you have these symptoms but the EPU are not putting your baby at risk - there is no treatment and nothing you can do for a haemotoma as stated above by some posters; continuous scans is not going to help. Realistically there is no way EPUs can keep scanning patients every time they have a bleed; It's just not possible, and it wouldn't help anyway, really sorry OP.

Sadly, EPUs are totally swamped with hundreds and hundreds of ladies having bleeds of all descriptions in early pregnancy, and EPUs are there to make a diagnosis (if possible). As you know you have a haematoma, a diagnosis has been made. Lots of other ladies will be waiting for those scan slots.

Grumpybutfunny · 27/11/2022 15:34

What are you hoping to gain from the scan tomorrow now you have a diagnosis? EPU aims to diagnosis the issue which they have, you will transfer to PAU which you can call at 12 weeks in our area but they wouldn't offer a scan after every bleed with a known issue

ZiggyAndChanelle · 27/11/2022 15:38

I understand it’s very stressful having something like this in pregnancy but can you understand that repeated scans won’t fix the issue now that it’s been diagnosed? or that EPU (like the rest of the nhs) are heaving and have to be strict with their limited scan slots?

Original poster
ladydorito · 27/11/2022 15:47

Yes @ZiggyAndChanelle I am absolutely aware there's nothing they can do. But can you honestly tell me if you were pregnant and gushing blood with clots - I'm not talking spotting, I'm talking soaking through clothes and the toilet looking like a crime scene - you wouldn't want to be scanned each time it happens to, I don't know, confirm that you hadn't lost your baby?!

@Grumpybutfunny I am hoping to "gain" the knowledge I haven't miscarried...! Being told you have a SCH does not mean any bleeding is benign. They are linked to a higher risk of miscarriage and placental problems and the nurses at the unit have told me themselves I should get any fresh bleeding checked out.

I have the highest respect for the nurses caring for me, support the strikes, feel angry beyond belief at what has happened to the NHS. But I'm pregnant, vulnerable and bleeding (as I type this). I matter too. I'm not taking someone else's slot. I need that slot too.

OP posts:
ZiggyAndChanelle · 27/11/2022 15:53

imagine if the first time it happened (before the SCH had been diagnosed) you couldn’t get a scan because someone else had been given 3 or 4 or 5. You’d be pretty pissed off! i do know what it’s like, I’ve been in EPU more times than I care to remember. hope it all works out 💐

Itsbritneybitch22 · 27/11/2022 16:41

Can you just go through a&e? I had to a few times with 1 pregnancy which was very similar to yours.

Blondlashes · 27/11/2022 16:46

Have you been tested for a anemia. Probably worth it with all the bleeding you have had

ElleJayEs · 27/11/2022 20:02

Hi, I am really sorry to hear you’re going through this. I don’t have any advice as to the hospital side of things but I experienced the same when I was pregnant. The bleeding and clots I had, started when I was 6 weeks pregnant and eventually stopped at 21 weeks. It was an exhausting time mentally and physically I feel your pain! My son was fine and turned 10years old this year. I have everything crossed for you, feel free to PM me if you need a chat xx

cansu · 27/11/2022 20:11

I guess the reason they have kept on discharging you is that they do not have the capacity to keep scanning you and that there is no available treatment. It sounds like an awful condition and I can understand that you want the reassurance that you have not miscarried. However, it may well be that they won't do this. Would it be better to discuss this with your midwife?

ezbez · 27/11/2022 21:55

CoconutQueen · 27/11/2022 15:29

I work in this field. I know it's tough when you have these symptoms but the EPU are not putting your baby at risk - there is no treatment and nothing you can do for a haemotoma as stated above by some posters; continuous scans is not going to help. Realistically there is no way EPUs can keep scanning patients every time they have a bleed; It's just not possible, and it wouldn't help anyway, really sorry OP.

Sadly, EPUs are totally swamped with hundreds and hundreds of ladies having bleeds of all descriptions in early pregnancy, and EPUs are there to make a diagnosis (if possible). As you know you have a haematoma, a diagnosis has been made. Lots of other ladies will be waiting for those scan slots.

100% right unfortunately

I'm so sorry you're going through this op. It can't be easy.

CourtneeLuv · 27/11/2022 22:17

ladydorito · 27/11/2022 15:47

Yes @ZiggyAndChanelle I am absolutely aware there's nothing they can do. But can you honestly tell me if you were pregnant and gushing blood with clots - I'm not talking spotting, I'm talking soaking through clothes and the toilet looking like a crime scene - you wouldn't want to be scanned each time it happens to, I don't know, confirm that you hadn't lost your baby?!

@Grumpybutfunny I am hoping to "gain" the knowledge I haven't miscarried...! Being told you have a SCH does not mean any bleeding is benign. They are linked to a higher risk of miscarriage and placental problems and the nurses at the unit have told me themselves I should get any fresh bleeding checked out.

I have the highest respect for the nurses caring for me, support the strikes, feel angry beyond belief at what has happened to the NHS. But I'm pregnant, vulnerable and bleeding (as I type this). I matter too. I'm not taking someone else's slot. I need that slot too.

Ask them for, or buy, a home doppler.

ZiggyAndChanelle · 27/11/2022 22:20

CourtneeLuv · 27/11/2022 22:17

Ask them for, or buy, a home doppler.

Show quote history

absolutely do not do this. unless you’re trained in using one you have no idea what you’re listening for, you can mistake your own pulse or blood flow through the cord for a fetal heart. such dangerously stupid advice

MarigoldPetals · 27/11/2022 22:24

absolutely do not do this. unless you’re trained in using one you have no idea what you’re listening for, you can mistake your own pulse or blood flow through the cord for a fetal heart. such dangerously stupid advice

I don’t know. I also bled all the way through pregnancy. I found it reassuring to have a home Doppler.

ZiggyAndChanelle · 27/11/2022 22:36

MarigoldPetals · 27/11/2022 22:24

absolutely do not do this. unless you’re trained in using one you have no idea what you’re listening for, you can mistake your own pulse or blood flow through the cord for a fetal heart. such dangerously stupid advice

I don’t know. I also bled all the way through pregnancy. I found it reassuring to have a home Doppler.

I’m sure you wouldn’t have found it reassuring to have settled your mind by listening to the baby’s heart and then be told days later you’d been misinterpreting your own heart rate doubled and there was no fetal heart. As happened to someone I know

StrandedStarfish · 27/11/2022 22:48

Can you ask for a referral to a different hospital EPAU?

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