"Ward staff"

I had a c-section which was performed by a great team of doctors and theatre staff. It went very well. But the postnatal care was awful. I was put back on the labour ward afterwards where I was left in a room at the end of the ward. No obs or checks were performed on me or my baby for hours. Every time I pressed my bell I was told a midwife would come but no-one ever did. After 6 hours of this my mum complained to the ward sister who was then very rude to my mum and me. They told me I hadn't been neglected, despite the fact I'd had major surgery and no obs taken, no pain relief offered or baby checks done for over 5 hours! What?! Eventually I was moved to the postnatal ward. I requested an amenity room so my partner could stay and help look after the baby. The room facilities were poor. An uncomfortable ripped up couch was provided for my partner. On my second day I asked an HCA to change my bed sheet as it was soiled from sweat and vomit and my wound dressing was being removed. They refused because the soiling wasn't visible to their eye! And then had a go at me while I was breastfeeding. So upsetting. I don't expect an HCA to refuse a request to change a dirty bed sheet when I was paying £120 per night for the room. The midwives on the postnatal ward are clearly understaffed. As a healthcare professional myself I have great sympathy for staff on busy wards. However the midwives on these 2 wards were rude. They are very disorganized. On my third day I was handed a syringe of Tinzaparin by a midwife who assumed I'd been shown how to self inject it on previous days. When I told them I'd not had any previous injections apart from one which another midwife told me was MMR injection they were shocked and said my drug chart read that I'd been having Tinzaparin injections since my op and that there was no record of an MMR being given. The midwife who had given me the MMR and made these errors then came to my room where they were asked by the other midwife what I'd been given. The midwife initially argued with me, essentially calling me a liar and said they had previously given me Tinzaparin. Luckily my partner, who'd been there the whole time and witness to everything verified that they had not given me Tinzaparin but said it was MMR. Then the midwife begrudgingly admitted their mistakes but no apology was offered. They were very rude. I was told by the doctor I could be discharged after 2 days. But the midwives were so unavailable they did not get round to discharging me for 4 days. And that was only because we kicked up a fuss about how long it was taking. I was then discharged at 9pm on a Saturday night. I couldn't leave until 10pm because my baby then needed feeding. I was sent home very late on a cold, rainy night, with my first baby. My baby wasn't breastfeeding properly but no help was given, despite my requests for help. No follow up from the community midwives until I rang them on Monday. Appalling, dangerous care.