Mark Johnson at Chelsea and Westminster

[kitstwins]

I wondered if anyone had any direct experience with him. I've done a few searches and his name does come up but not much detail. I've chosen him as my consultant for this pregnancy (second - first was a twin caesarean that was beyond grim) and have my first appointment with him next week.

Just want to know what he's like, what he was like at delivery. Whether you had a caesarean and, if so, what was the scar like. I'm hoping to avoid a caesarean this time but if I do have one I'd like to have my previous mess of adhesions and scar tissue sorted out.

Any info on him would be much appreciated.

I haven't dealt with Mark Johnson directly, but when i lived in Clapham most of my friends insisted on having him, either privately or NHS. One of my friends was absolutely gutted when she went into labour 6 weeks early and was out of London for the weekend, she made her husband drive like a maniac to try and get back to London, but they only made it as far as Guildford. She was soooo upset! I really have only heard wonderful things about him. Hope this helps and congrats on your second pregnancy!

He's cute. I am not sure if that's the main reason why ladies choose him but there. Actually would make me less likely to go for him. Also his sense of humour is less dry/surgeon like than my consultant's - when he did my scan and was telling us it's a girl he pointed at a large shoe-handbag area in her brain. By comparison the others are more likely to cheerfully tell you that your body is a giant sponge soaking bacteria away from baby ( and making you Ill)

seriously one big advantage is that he does his own scans which cuts the no of appointments I think.

However he is not my consultant so can't tell you more. They are a team of three though so you may end up with mr Wales on delivery - v good so far.

Good luck

Oops
Placenta brain

I meant Keith Duncan not Mark Johnsopn just ignore me

Apologies

Mark Johnson has been my consultant throughout my two last pregnancies. I lost one of these pregnancies due to chromosome abnormalities and he was extremely sensitive and caring to our family. He also delivered my son (last pregnancy) 12 days ago. He is not only an extraordinary obstetrician but also a very kind person. I wouldn?t choose anyone else.

Mark Johnson is my consultant at the moment but I am NOT impressed by the waiting time to see him despite having appointments set up. I normally wait anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour before he sees me - usually for 5 minutes. Anyone else experiencing this with the other consultants at C&W Hospital? I would also appreciate any advice on whether I should say anything or not - don't want to get into anything icky with someone who's going to deliver my baby!

Wow Pinkles, the waiting sounds annoying. I am seeing Keith Duncan at C&W and I haven't had to wait more than about five minutes ever. It's tricky I guess as the nature of their job means unpredictability! And they of course work on the NHS side too. Wonder if he is just bad at keeping to schedule or whether you have just been unlucky in that he has had to see a lot or urgent cases when you have been in...

I had long waiting times sometimes with Keith Duncan. I think it's just unavoidable sometimes.
Mark Johnson has delivered 3 of my firend's babies and she thinks he just wonderful.

I also think the nature of the job makes waiting sometimes unavoidable. I am with Mark Johnson at C&W and think he is excellent, always takes time to answer any concerns.

hello everyone.. i'd probably be one of the very few people who didn't have a great experience with Mark JOhnson. While all started relatively well, two days before my scheduled due date he said that he needed to go to a conference. Long story short, I end up having a really complicated delivery with all the things you don't want to hear about on this forum.. While I understand that these things can happen, what really upset me was the fact that Mark didn't even call me once after that to find out how i was doing..at least to book a follow up session. While he is of course very nice and popular, I felt like he was the victim of his own success. Too busy to take care of his clients..

I just wanted to add my comment that I also wasn't pleased with Mark Johnson and with baby no.2 on the way we're going to use another consultant (been on NHS in the meantime and its been really good). The wait time for Mark was ages for each app, and whilst I understand that he's super busy, I think that that is getting in the way of him giving proper attention. I don't think he was listening to what my husband or I were saying as he never remembered what we'd said even if it was 5 minutes ago. He also sent me on heaps of scans to Harley street! But the worst for me was that my baby had to come early when he was on holiday (which was my worst fear as we'd gone private to have one doctor throughout the whole pregnancy) - he'd told me not to worry but then I heard from Zoe Penn (brilliant brilliant obstetrician, a real pity that she's retired from private care) that I was the one patient under his care that he thought would be delivered whilst he was away. To make matters worse, he never so much as even sent a text or an email to see how I was doing afterwards. And at the 6 week check up I had to remind him what had happened and he was not bothered. To pay that much money to have indifference totally put us off.

Surely there is a conversation about holiday dates etc when you book a private consultant. Maybe I'm naive as I only have nhs care, but you can't expect them to be available 24/7?!

Another bad review for Mark Johnson. I was due on a Sunday, where he wasnt on holiday, and he didnt even bother to tell me he is not working on some weekends- apparently they have a team of obstetricians and one of them is working each weekend, covering each others' patients. So I saw him the Thursday before that Sunday I was due, for the weekly check up and he said the baby wasnt engaged, so probably the baby wasnt going to come on my due date. And the baby came the day before my due date, that Saturday! This is something difficult to know I suppose, for a doctor to tell the patients if the baby is going to be on time, or late etc, but what I cannot understand is how come you are not bothered to tell your patient, who is due in 4 days, that you are not working that weekend, on her due date! Never mentioned that, and never mentioned he was not working on some weekends. And the first thing I had asked months ago, before choosing him as my doctor, was if he was working on my due date, and the answer was yes. I was extremely dissapointed, when the labor started in the middle of the night, not knowing what to do (because he had always told me to call him, even in the middle of the night, if my labour starts) , and when I called him, the answer was "maybe you should go to the hospital". I was a private patient, and the Kensington Wing doors was locked and closed in the middle of the night, and apparently I had to call the Kensington Wing before arriving so they prepare your room etc, which I didnt know because I always thought I would call my doctor and he is going to direct me what to do. So i had to wait for a midwife to see me and let me in, outside Kensington Wing, when my labour has already started! Not to mention apprently he didnt even bother (again) to call Kensington Wing, that one of his patients is coming etc. Nothing.

And yes before the birth, during the regular check ups, I had to wait 30-45 minutes each time because he was very busy, and as HSWPutneymum mentioned, I always had the feeling that he wasnt listening properly and not interpreting my ultrasound results or my generel pregnancy concerns on an individual basis but rather talking about statistics all the time.

Unfortunately I was extremely dissapointed, and in my individual case, I dont think he deserved a single penny of that quite expensive obstetrician services bill he charged.

I am sorry to hear some of you had bad experiences under Mark Johnson's care. Personally I cannot speak more highly of him, although having said that, his services as a private obstetrician are very expensive and therefore I would only expect the highest level of care. Even more upsetting if you feel you did not receive it.

I have only had the best experience, he delivered all of my 4 children. He was always extremely responsive, even when on holiday. He is very careful (yes lots of scans) but not panicky, he just knows what to look out for, and when in a critical situation, he really keeps his calm and acts amazingly (I have been there with baby number 3). He is in a different league, also compared to the other doctors on his team.

Yes, you do have to wait long sometimes for your regular appointments, but I believe this comes with the nature of his profession (and I had the same experience with his colleagues when they were covering -- labour and deliveries are just unpredictable).

Yes, you do sometimes need to remind him at the start of a new pregnancy what the history was, also because they have new maternity notes for each pregnancy. But tbh I never had the feeling he did not know the important points during a pregnancy.

Also obstetricians need to go on holidays and have weekends, and actually the information package which is being sent out at the beginning of the pregnancy includes a schedule of the consultants on weekend and holiday duty. So it is pretty straight forward to know who will be working which weekend.

So to summarise, I can highly recommend him, especially for a high risk pregnancy. He is really in a different league, and even though he has a lot of patients, I have not once not received the care that I expected. And I had high expectations.

Hope this helps.