experiences of being rejected by Queen Charlotte's

[tlat]

Hi
I saw my GP yesterday about booking in at Charlotte's and she said that she would refer me but that that was a chance they would reject me as I was out of area (not living in W3 or W4 I think). She didn't seem to know how or if they would contact me and when if they did reject me. Does anyone have any experience of this? When should I give them a call to find out? When should I start looking elsewhere?
Thanks!

I'm in Harrow sooz, i know it is a bit of a trek but DH works at Hammersmith Hospital and I will be working there in a couple of months too, so it would be the easiest for appointments!

Any rejects?????

See if they have a self-refer form on the maternity section of the hospital website. This might tell you whether they are likely to reject you for being out of area. Might be some other info there that could help you too. My experience was that my GP didn't have the faintest idea about which hospitals I was and was not "allowed" to go to, so I wouldn't necessarily take what he/she says as gospel. In my case I was told by my GP that my choices were limited to the Royal Free or Barnet because of the area I live in. Booked in with Royal Free and later decided to transfer to the Whittington. Not my PCT, but they were perfectly happy to take a self-referral from me. Turns out my area IS covered for all antenatal and postnatal care. But even in the event that I was "out of area" I would still have been able to receive my antenatal care from them and give birth there - the only limitation would have been on postnatal care which would have been provided by a team in a hospital that did cover my area. When I told my GP what I'd done, she was completely gobsmacked and had no idea that such a thing was possible.

Thanks cardamonginger! I will investigate this! Yeesh you would think this would be something GPs would know!

I live in W11. Like you, I asked GP to refer me to QC and she wasn't completely sure if my area was covered by them. She sent the form off and I had an appointment letter (so accepted obviously) within a couple of weeks. So I wouldn't worry that you will be left in limbo - you should hear back from them pretty quickly either way.

You don't say where you are but I'm w5 and got in fine both times but they do recommend early referrals.

You might struggle from harrow tbh, because they are quite strict outside their immediate area. I got in from w5 but only because I asked at 6 weeks. People I know from my area didn't get in by about 8 weeks pg as they needed to reserve space for later allocations within w3 and w4. And i think they offer preference to ealing over harrow so could make it harder. But always worth trying - you may get lucky - and either way they should let you know very quickly - my friends and I all found out our allocated hospital within about a week.

I got in from W5, but following early referral at about 6 weeks, and my pg followed gynae fertility treatment also at the QC, so we made a 'continuity' argument.
As other posters have said, you should get a letter quite swiftly either way.

Hi...just wanted to thank everyone for posting. i got in and got the letter last week but have been away on a work trip since! Just thought i would post in case someone wanted to know for the future!

Glad you got accepted. The birth centre there is fab.
If they still run the once-a-month active birth sessions (if that's sometihng you're interested in), sign up for those soon, I left it so late that on the day they ran the session I was supposed to be in, I was in the next room having DS

Well done!

Great news! The antenatal clinics can sometimes be a bit slow but I think that is because they put lots of resources on the delivery ward - I had wonderful care there during a long, difficult labour.

Ah yes I second that. Take a good book and plenty of money for the parking meter. Being seen an hour over scheduled apt is not uncommon and I've seen partners / first time visitors have to leave cos they didn't realise just how long it would take. However once they see you they are very very good and you receive their full undivided attention