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"Disgusting service left trauma-no wonder in..."

About: Whipps Cross University Hospital

I was12 weeks pregnant and was suffering from very sharp cramping pain in my abdomen and pain in my shoulder. Obviously concern that something was wrong I visited the A&E department at around 4pm. Greeted by a woman who showed little interest as to why I was there triaged me and placed me in the GP queue. As a nurse myself I would have thought with my symptoms and the possibility of ectopic pregnancy that would constitute for emergency care. I waited for nearly three hours patiently and was finally seen by their GP. He queried ectopic with the on call Gyaene reg who said I would need a scan but the scanning department was shut so I would have to wait til Monday. Absolutely gobsmacked my mother and I argued why there was no emergency scanning service that could see me. After a bit more pushing he wrote out a scan form to take privately but otherwise I would have to wait for my antenatal appointment on Monday and to return if I was in pain!! My mother said ' she's in pain now that is why we are here' but it seemed to make little difference to the advice. By the time I arrived home I was in agony. I was unable to stand from the pain so my mother called for an ambulance who took my observations, gave me sugar tube ( I had low blood sugar) and gave me pain relief and took me back to Whipps. The ambulance crew are the best part of this story. When I arrived I was on the stretcher for about an hour. A nurse took my obs and managed to put me in a side room. I had managed to give a urine sample that kept being asked for but had mysteriously disappeared. 2.5hrs later the A&E doctor finally sees me. She came in said' oh your in pain' and walked off! She then came back in and began barking an assessment at me. She asked about the shoulder pain which I said had subsided. She told me off for saying that because they may miss something. Confused, as I hadn't denied I had had the pain only that it had stopped. She checked my abdomen roughly causing me great pain and finished by jabbing me in the side with both hands! Again barked it's either appendix or ectopic and flounced out. Gyaene reg finally showed up and performed a scan where he said 'its 8 weeks and there it is there's no heartbeat, sorry' he didn't really explain that the baby had stopped developing at 8 weeks and my body hadn't recognised the baby had passed away, not that I was 8 weeks and the dates were wrong which they couldn't be. I was having a missed miscarriage. He told me to go to my antenatal appointment Monday to confirm, and that was that. A nurse came in gave me painkillers and I was sent home with no information as to what happens next, what to expect, nothing. I went home shell shocked, guilty and devastated. I went to Homerton the next day who have a weekend service and they were kind, compassionate, informative and caring. Whipps cross you're a disgrace. If you don't improve you deserve to be shut down and I will be making an official complaint.

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