Midwife didn’t turn up!!!

[anxietyangel]

Meant to have my booking appt this morning between 9-12 at my house, but the midwife hasn’t turned up and I’m 9+4 weeks. I thought they’re meant to see you before 10 weeks?
I’m a bit annoyed I waited in all morning, but I do understand she is probably very busy.
Will it be automatically rescheduled or do I need to do something? Thank you

It's only 10 past 12.
She could be stuck in traffic.
Give the service a ring.

(also surprised they do this as a home visit....)

@Needmorelego I was surprised too, but I put a post on here and apparently it’s quite common!
I have plans this afternoon, as I thought between 9-12 meant it would be finished by 12😅😅 thank you🙂

Traffic
complicated visits before yours took up more time than planned
emergencies to respond to
safeguarding issue cropped up
gone sick and adkin staff have not let u know
tech problem and can’t access your records for your address

multiple possibilities… ring the service - I’m sure they will reschedule
annoying but midwives are overstretched and under resourced like everyone else in NHS and usually just trying to do their best

@Bumdrops thank you, yes it’s such a shame for everyone isn’t it, must be very stressful. I will give them a call, I’ll give her till half past just in case anyway

Probably a clart on doing the house call thing. Might be better going to them, at least you're not left wondering.

@gamerchick I would much prefer to go to a clinic for it, but it seems they could only fit me in for a home visit unfortunately as I found out quite late about my pregnancy

I'd it helps I've never known a HCP to be on time for a home visit. Not so bad when you're PP unless you're dying for a shower as you're probably not going out. But when you want to get on with your day and stuck in waiting mode it's a bit of a pain. It doesn't look like an easy job for them, going from place to place.

How did you find out quite late if you’re only 9 weeks?

She will be rushed off her feet, you just need to sit tight or ring and check she’s still coming

That's frustrating! I'm sure there's a good reason so not criticising the midwife in any way, but it's annoying when you've waited in.

My booking appointment was at over 11 weeks if that helps, so there's time to reschedule!

You are in for a rough ride with the NHS time keeping I’m afraid! Every appointment is incredibly likely to start late, every single appointment at clinic, home or hospital was late for me in my pregnancies. Maybe all trusts aren’t as bad for it but I’d prepare yourself for it OP because they are always over stretched and running late as a result

Me too. When did that become a thing??

There are multiple common reasons this might have happened - they might be ill but the service did not contact you or were unable to get through when trying to contact you. They might have already attended but you did not hear the door. They have been delayed on the way to you due to traffic or at their previous appointment due to a health or safeguarding emergency. It happens, particularly in an overstretched service. Give their hub a call and they should be able to help.

Well it's likely an emergency that's over run, I doubt she just decided to go for a coffee instead. Maybe someone else is having a really shit day, maybe there's a Mum out there currently being diagnosed with pre eclampsia or other complications.

In my area they always did the booking application at home. I believe they visit you at home at least once to assess any safeguarding concerns e.g multiple unkempt children, signs of poor mental health, dv etc because it is their job to safeguard you and your newborn. For most of us this will be a pleasant chat over a cuppa and nothing more to it. For a small minority this visit could ring serious alarm bells and be the trigger for support which could save a life.

I agree with others that this is how NHS services tend to operate. If you haven’t previously had to deal with them, then it can come as a bit of a shock.

The worst seem to be telephone appointments. They’re generally issued for a specific time, so you block out time in your work calendar / make arrangements to be in a quiet space etc. Then they’re often really late or just don’t happen.

Whilst I appreciate staff are overstretched, some are definitely better at managing their time than others. And there’s a wider cultural NHS thing that it doesn’t seem to be a priority for things to happen when they’re meant to, or for patients who are waiting for an appointment to be informed of delays. Whereas if I arrange a 121 Teams call at work (not NHS), I expect to be given about five minutes grace to join it, and if I don’t do so then the other person will leave and it will have to be rescheduled. If I carried on like that, I’d be in performance management.

Healthcare / working with patients who’s needs / problems can change quickly mean health staff need to be reactive to the clinical need on the day -
it is not the same as time keeping in a non clinical job -

how many patients will turn up late ?
turn up with more problems than time ‘allows’

how many patient appointments will turn into referrals being made to other services

etc etc

NHS staff can’t leave time in between appointments for the unexpected -
they run back to back / more than 100 % capacity so when the unexpected happens that puts a strain across the whole system -

waits and delays
re-prioritising to meet the most urgent : trouble shooting is the norm not the exception

I can understand it if the OP lives in a very rural area and access to medical services are miles away.
But it does sound an odd way to do it.
The travel times must mean less patients seen.
Hopefully all is good @anxietyangel 🙂

There is more pressure on clinic space than ever before -
often staff are doing home visits because there is literally no clinic room to access

with NHS cutbacks, estates have been cut right back, buildings not maintained, leases cancelled, when there are clinic spaces there is limited parking, which staff may have to pay for out of meagre salaries and more often than not the clinic space is shared and there is not a confidential
space to see a patient -
it’s really is like that !!

They should be like "Call the Midwife" and have clinics in Community Centres/Church Halls.

We are doing all our booking appointments at the patients home as well now due to the exact reason @Bumdrops stated. The recent rain means our (already needing repair) roof has collapsed and the clinic rooms are out of use as a result. The NHS is quite literally falling apart around us, I’m always surprised that people don’t already realise this.

Slightly different, obviously, but we had vet visits at home because it was much easier than taking our large dogs to the vets in person. She was lovely but always, always so late. Then we came to the point where our beautiful dog had to be put to sleep. She came as an emergency ( we knew the day was coming but he collapsed suddenly one morning) and she stayed until it was done. There was no rush , no clock watching, no pressure.She just waited until we were ready to let him go. She wrapped him in a huge blanket and took him away ( to be cremated) on the back seat of her car. After she'd gone my husband, who used to get so fed up that she was always so late, said ' If we ever get another dog I will never complain about her being late again' . Perhaps someone can't feel their baby's movements, or has started in labour unexpectedly.

You’re aware that most children’s centres have closed down right?

I agree @Bumdrops there are multiple causes, but I stand by that some clinicians are better at managing their time than others - there can be stark differences between consultants running the same clinic, and the admin staff will sometimes openly say that some are better at organising themselves than others.

I also really don’t think it’s acceptable to keep people hanging all day for an appointment that doesn’t happen, regardless of what else is happening. There’s got to be a way of generating some sort of patient text message / email that alerts people who are waiting that there are significant delays / cancellations, so they can rejig the rest of their day.

For people who have multiple medical appointments, it can be massively hard to maintain a job when NHS services routinely operate like this, unless their employer is very flexible and they have a high degree of autonomy at work. Which generally means well paid, professional roles. If you work in an industry like childcare or retail, then you’re screwed if medical appointments routinely don’t happen on time.

But then you need to pay for the system to send the alerts and pay for someone to take control of this and make sure alerts are sent etc. plus rebook the appointment for those who decide not to come. And as we’ve pointed out there isn’t even enough money for absolutely essential staff so where is this money coming from?

Well there clearly is money ringfenced for some tech stuff @barkitoff as otherwise things like the hospital appointments / results mobile apps wouldn’t exist.

Again, I agree that there are wider issues at play, but I don’t think it’s acceptable for the NHS to operate like this, and many clinicians I see have said the same.