"Triaged quickly"

What I liked

Triaged quickly

What could be improved

Towards the end of last year I fell pregnant much to the excitement of my husband and I after I had suffered a previous miscarriage. Around 6 weeks into the pregnancy I started to bleed and came into the hospital. I was triaged and my bloods taken fairly quickly, but i was then taken up to the Gynecology ward where i was left for a long period of time, with no one really speaking to me or updating me, giving me no support or indication when I would be seen.

When i finally was seen by the doctor I was told quite bluntly that this was a 50/50 case and then offered an internal check. The internal actually caused quite alot of blood much to my distress and then I was told that there was no one available to scan me. This was obvioulsy really upsetting as I had suffered a previous miscarriage, but thought it was just my bad luck that noone was free to see me.

I felt that leaving it 24 hours was too long and would add unnecessary stress to myself and the baby, so I decided to pay for a private scan. I was seen 3 hours later at another hospital and I was told that there was still a heart beat and that everything looked perfect. Unfortunatley 3-4 weeks later i started to bleed again and came in with my husband and was finally seen by a nurse. The nurse was extremely kind and said they would call down to the ward to see if i could be scanned. I said we had difficulties before but the nurse told me that it was only 11.15am and that the person was on a half day, so the nurse would see if person could see me. When the nurse returned they told me that the person refused to see me as they had finished the list of people to see and that they were going home!!! You can hopefully understand our digust and upset that there WAS someone who could scan me but they were refusing to do so as they had finished the list. I was also trying to understand why I couldnt be seen as it was 11.15am not 1pm lunchtime (half day).

Anything else?

The nurse was ever so apologetic and told me that this wasnt the first time thay had problems with the ward refusing to scan person who think they are having a miscarriage. The nurse offered an internal but I refused saying that I would have to pay for another private scan as the internal wouldnt give me a true picture and i didnt want to add any additional stress to the baby by waiting. Again I left the Lister for another hosiptal where a few hours later I was told I had lost my baby. Both my husband and I were furious and extrememly upset that we had been treated that way... like someone leaving early that day was more important than offering support/ reassurance especially to someone with a history of miscarriaging. The next day I received a phone call from the Lister checking if i needed a scan and I told them I had lost the baby. I was then told i needed to come in to be seen by a nurse/doctor to sign some papers and talk through my next options. The next day I went up to the hospital and was told that i should of called before turning up as they hadnt got me details ready. Again i was surprised as they asked me to come in!! My husband kept asking the nurses when i would be seen as I was in lots of pain and extremely upset over everything that happened and they kept saying soon. 3-4 hours past and no one would give us a straight answer or even bothered to check i was ok.

I can understand that miscarriages are common but I still feel that there was a considerable lack of care and support given to me. I have lost my faith in the hospital and makes me worried using the hospital for any future pregnancies incase I have problems or miscarry again.