This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?

"First dating scan - abrupt sonographer"

About: Malton Community Hospital

Visited the hospital today to have dating scan, had received a text to confirm our appointment and a follow up letter as arrived we realised the letter actually said 20minutes before the texted appointment. We were greeted by the receptionist at radiology with a friendly smile and polite manner. We explained we had just realised the letter said a different time to the text received, they sympathised and told us not to worry we should still be able to get seen and left their desk to find the sonographer. They called out to this person who came out of another room and asked if they were waiting for us, this person turned round and said rather unfriendly "I was" the receptionist went on to explain what we had told them. The sonographer looked at us said "maternity don't text people appointments and we never have appointments at that time" (11:40) I tried to explain that when we had been in our booking appointment the midwife had phoned down to book us appointment but didn't manage to and said they would keep trying and text us the details later on which they did and told us 11:40. It was clear that the sonographer did not believe this and was basically calling us liars over the text message (unfortunately I did not have the phone to hand to prove this) They walked into a room to discuss further leaving us stood in the corridor then abruptly the sonographer called over "come in" so we rushed in apologising profusely. Their abrupt manner continued throughout the 5minutes or so they gave us. There was nothing reassuring about the scan at all (our first ever one) we were not made to feel at ease. They kept repeatedly saying it was hard to get the measurement if we had longer we could wait for baby to move and "baby wasn't moving" was mentioned several times prompting my partner to question whether baby was alive! To which they snapped back I said it had heartbeat, which yes they had but then repeatedly told baby not moving sends panic through you. Upon leaving the room we were told to pay for pictures and wait for them to come talk to us. We waited several minutes they reappeared handed an envelope and said you can go up to maternity now. We left feeling very confused and anxious it wasn't until we got up to the midwife who put us at ease. The midwife said the sonographer had called to ask about the text and that they had told the sonographer they had sent it and it said 11:40 as that is what the department had told them. So even after the sonographer knew we were telling the truth over the text we never got an apology. It has really put us at unease and are contemplating asking for a different sonographer for our next scan, regardless of whether we got times muddled we should still be treated in a friendly welcoming manner. This experience has put a downer over what should have been a happy occasion seeing our baby for the first time. We got more information and reassurance from our midwife, both they and the receptionist on radiology are credit to customer service shame about sonographer.

nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Malton Community Hospital 8 years ago
Malton Community Hospital
Submitted on 23/11/2015 at 10:30
Published on nhs.uk on 24/11/2015 at 01:38


Thank you very much for your posting.

Your comments have been passed to the teams concerned.

We are pleased that your visit to us was in the main very positive; our aim is to provide a high standard of service which reflects the needs of patients.

Your comments on how we might improve things have also been passed to the relevant teams

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k