"Good care but waiting times far too long"

I have visited the Rosie hospital for various reasons over the past 18 months so I wanted to leave a review of my experience, especially in light of the recent news around the hospital being put into special measures.

Most recently, I have been at the Rosie fairly frequently as I am 38 weeks pregnant with my first child. I have to say, whilst the care I have received has been good, the waiting times are appalling. Last week I had to wait for 5 hours simply to see a doctor and get a date booked in for a c-section. To leave a heavily pregnant woman sat in a waiting room for 5 hours (my back has been killing ever since), for a 10 minute consultation, with no indication as to when a doctor would be available is, to me, unacceptable. We were informed that there was only one registrar available that day, and they were in theatre. It it frightening for me, knowing that I will be having my c-section in a few weeks, to know that there is only one doctor available on the entire delivery ward. What if there are two emergencies that come in? Who gets priority? It seems that this would put women and babies at great risk, and it fills me with dread about an experience that should be one of the most positive of my life.

Last year I unfortunately had to have a managed miscarriage at 15 weeks. I want to point out that the care I received from the midwifes was very, very good. I felt well looked after and had at least one midwife in the room with me for the whole 12+ hours. They were all very sympathetic and warm, and I felt really well looked after and cared for. The problem at this hospital is clearly not to do with the staff themselves - it is a question of staff shortage, waiting times, and money.

After that experience last year, I needed to see some consultants to follow up on some fertility issues. Obviously this was a very time-sensitive issue for me and my husband, who are in our mid thirties and were keen to start trying for another baby. I was assured that I would be given an appointment as soon as possible, but when the appointment came through I was devastated to learn that even the first consultation was scheduled for 4 months' time. Given everything we had been through, and the fact that this was about fertility and a process that could have taken a very long time, it was very upsetting that we couldn't even start conversations with the hospital for almost half a year. We had to therefore investigate going private, which is something we could not really afford, but were left desperate.

I was very confident about having the Rosie as my maternity hospital when I moved to Cambridge, but having experienced these waiting times and lack of staff, I am very scared as my due date approaches. I am worried that there will not be enough staff to deal with me, or that the right level of consultants won't be available to carry out the operation, which I have been told could have complications. I am equally scared that I will turn up and be turned away.