"Labour Ward Triage visit for reduced foetal..."

I came to the hospital being pregnant with my third child and having some concerns over reduced foetal movements.

Having phoned the number on my red book and been told to call in to Triage at Labour Ward I found the care I received to be good overall.

The ward was not exceptionally busy so I was seen in what I considered to be a reasonable time frame given my circumstances.

Once seen, I found it courteous that the staff introduced themselves by name, however, as they were taking routine tests such as blood pressure, oxygen levels (I believe that is what they are testing for when placing the little pad on my fingertip?) I would have appreciated the staff actually telling me whether any readings gave cause for concern rather than just busying themselves with writing it up in my red book.

As 'service users' we do not want to be strapped up to machines, poked and prodded and only at the end given a 'verdict', at least speaking for myself I would like to be communicated with throughout this process and to have the various steps explained somewhat to me.

I was told that my urine test was to be set off for testing as had showed a possible infection and questioned how i should find out the results of this.

I was told that if there were any concerns then someone would contact me.

Clearly this method is fundamentally flawed since I decided to phone Triage a week later to double check the test outcome, only to discover that my sample had been 'mislabelled' and therefore not sent off for testing at all.

The area I attended at Queens Hospital was clean and timely and gave me the neccessary reassurances that all was well with my baby and I but I do feel that the above refinements suggested would help instil me with greater confidence in the Trust's ability to treat individuals with respect and importance.