13 1/2 weeks pregnant and I can't get a Booking in Appointment - Guys and St Thomas's

[dominoman]

My wife is now over 13 weeks pregnant and we still don't have a Booking in Appointment. I'm getting worried that we will miss the date for the dating scan and the tests for problems like Downs.

In our case we moved recently so there was a delay in getting transferred from our current GP to the new one, and by the time we re-registered it was 11 weeks. Since then we still don't have an appointment at the hospital.

We have tried to contact the surgery, we've called and emailed the hospital, and even contacted the matron (who replied promptly) but we still don't have an appointment.

Does anyone have any tips on what to do next? I'm worried about time, and as this is my wife's first pregnancy (she's 35 years old) I just want to get the process started.

Thanks for any help.

No advice on what to do re getting the booking in appointment made, but since you're worried about screening, and given your wife's age, might you consider NIPT anyway? I am also 35, had a high risk result from NHS screening which came back all clear when I had NIPT, and it left me wishing I had just done it right away.

I went to the Birth Company on Harley St, but there are plenty of other places that do it. For £500 at the most, for me it was money very well spent.

Lots of St Thomas' maternity care is done by what they call "community caseload" midwives. I transferred part way through my pregnancy and contacted them through a telephone number I found on the St Thomas' maternity page. The email address is also on there. Alternatively, can your GP practice put you in touch with the community caseload team?

What did the matron say? Booking appt should be completed by 12 weeks and there are financial penalties for hospitals if a certain percentage of bookings aren't completed by 12 weeks so I'm surprised it wasn't sorted.

Unfortunately the pressure on scan slots is unreal. There was a recent report which hospitals are adhering to which means there's more (non routine) scans been done in later pregnancy. Of course there's the same number of machines and sonographers and a national shortage of sonographers.

You could try ringing the hospital labour ward and asking to speak to a supervisor of midwives.

How about contacting PALS at the hospital if contacting people yourself isn't working

There is a self referral form if the gp one has got lost

Go to 8th floor antenatal outpatients reception desk, ask for one, fill it in, ask them to help you work out which community team it needs to go to and how to expedite.

dominoman, I'm afraid that this is the reality of the NHS. You need to be persistent - have you called and emailed today?

Have you dropped in in person to have a chat with the GP receptionist about procedure? Both previous pregnancies (lived in different places) it was the GP receptionist who gave me the community midwife details, when to contact etc.

It isnt the reality of the nhs.
I would bet there has been no booking form received or it has incorrect contact details on
Who sent it - gp? They will have a copy with date and contact details on if so and can chase too.
If not sent wrong (more likely given penaltoes for late booking if timely booking form recieved) then do self referral more or less instant. Scan slots are at a premium so you need to do this now/ASAP. Random calling or emailing will be ineffective in the absenceof a completed booking form.

Referral form and adress to send it to with urgent flag on and read receipt on link following

www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/our-services/maternity/care-during-pregnancy/choose-us.aspx

What did the matron say?

dominoman, agree about the referral form but time is of the essence here, so don't stop trying the hospital. You say the matron got back to you promptly - contact her again.

I'm 11 weeks and no booking in yet either. We moved house too but it was a while ago now.

Yours sounds quite urgent - could your wife go in in person? I got my dates wrong on my first pregnancy and they did seem to have emergency appointments available for people who are quite far along (not immediately but she offered me one within the week).

Many thanks everyone.

I have taken all that advice! I completed another referral form and sent it in, marked urgent, and explained that I think the GP referral may have gone astray.

We are also going to go in today and see them in person. I'm hoping we can get something at short notice.

I tried the matron again, but she didn't reply since the email yesterday.

Thanks for the advice. I'm hopeful that going in person today will help.

I didn't even contact the GP surgery, we went straight to the midwives who did the booking appointment.
We got the number from a leaflet in the local pharmacy, right next to the pregnancy tests.
Also, of it puts your mind at rest at all, I'm 35 and just had our results back as low risk.

If it isn't sorted soon I would consider paying for a private scan, you shouldn't have to do but I would for peace of mind.

I've just heard back. Good news. We have a scan booked for Monday, and the booking in appointment for the following day!

It's not the usual order, but I'm happy we got something.

Next Monday will be 14 weeks and 3 days, so am hoping they can still do the Downs tests using the nuchal translucency. Is that normally done as part of the initial scan (dating scan), or is it requested separately?

We are at St Thomas's and they did the nuchal translucency at the 12 week scan, so I'd assume they'd do the same for you.

Yes, they can still do it at 14 weeks.

Iirc it can be done up to and including 14+6.

Skip the GP and self refer plus follow up directly with the hospital. You are running out of time for the nuchal scan but you have other options. St Thomas actually provide an equivalent to the Harmony test so you'll still potentially have non-invasive options for Downs testing. Still, push hard to get seen asap.

The one alternative is that you could pay for a private scan and screening for peace of mind (if you can afford it) before transferring to the NHS.

Good luck