Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital

[AmyBN]

I used the self-referral form on 1st November (5 weeks pregnant) to sign up for antenatal care at Guy's & St Thomas' hospital. I received no appointment information, so I called 2 weeks later. I was told I'm in triage while they wait to find availability for me. It's been a month and I'm now 9 weeks pregnant, and very concerned I've missed all the important deadlines for tests and booking appointments. I've called every week and there's been no positive outcome. I'm finding this whole thing baffling - has anyone else had this issue or similar? Surely the least they should be able to do is get me an appointment or tell me far in advance that it's not possible for whatever reason so I have time to figure out another option. I'm feeling completely let down and I haven't even begun my antenatal journey with them.

Hi Amy.
I am in the same situation now. I have called them multiple times and they say it takes up to 3 weeks and i told them this week is the third week. They say that i need to wait to be contacted. I feel frustrated because i could have done other arrangements with another hospital. Could you please let me know if they contacted you and how many weeks were you when you got the first appointment?
Thank you 🙏🏼

Hey! Sorry to hear that, it wasn't a nice experience. I did eventually receive notice of my first appointment, which was scheduled during my 10th or 11th week (ie late). However, how it came about felt very dodgy. By that point I had been calling regularly and ending up in queues for hours only to be hung up on when I eventually got through. I called my GP in tears asking for their help and a kind receptionist called on my behalf (getting through immediately by calling hospital's general number) and she was told that they had been waiting for my call, placing all blame on me even though on the phone they told me what they are telling you, i.e. to wait. I was made to feel stupid but tbh was relieved to have an appointment. The care since has been somewhat the same from GSST, never getting through when I need them etc. However the local midwifery unit I'm at is great, which is a blessing. Hope that's helpful.

Thank you so much Amy for sharing your experience. I am really sorry to hear what you went through until you got the first appointment. This is sad, frustrating and worrying. They should treat this more seriously and be in touch and let us know that things take longer than expected and give us accurate estimated times for the appointment. They should not leave us in the air. I even wrote them an email two weeks ago and the automatic reply said i should receive a response within 2 woking days. Since then 10 working days have passed and no reply. I called twice in two different weeks and i will call again on Friday.
Glad to hear you have a goo experience with the midwifery unit. Good luck with everything! 😊