Forum home Archived Birth Clubs My baby was born in Dec 07

my local maternity unit

Just found out the hospital where I had Bryn is the worst performing maternity unit in the whole of Devon and Cornwall - it only got 1 star - the lowest rating - thank goodness I've already had Bryn otherwise I might have felt a bit more nervous about going into hospital!

Replies

  • Here's hoping that the relevant people sit up and take notice of all this and do something about it! Some of the hospitals performances arejust shocking! I feel sorry for the poor lassies just about to give birth, like you say it would scare you stupid reading some of the things xxx
  • Hey Em, where do you look to check the results? Looked on itv.com but only said the trust's performance as getting better or summat. Not rated my hosp on its own and I'm curious as couldn't fault it.
  • That is awful. Esp when giving birth is nerve racking enough as it is.
    Luckily for me the hosp i went to was brill and the care was great.
    Unfortunately the aftercare was terrible. My hubby had to phone the mw on the 6th day of being home because noone had come to see me since day 1. All in all i saw the mw 3 times and one of those visits was to be discharged. What happened to the 10 days visits?
    Nothing like a lack of funding on the nhs. My hubby was so angry. Luckily for me i had my family around but that is not always the case for some people.
  • alioli - i found out on the bbc site (went to news, then england, then to local news)
    suzlong - I only had 3 visits from my mw too - they were every day up until I was discharged with my 1st and about every other day with my 2nd - i did expect to see her more but just thought there were less visits because it was my third.

    ps - i didn't think my hospital was too bad but then I went home the same day
  • It wouldnt be so bad but they had actually 'lost' me in the system so if hubby hadnt called them wed still be waiting now!
    Its def not because its your 3rd-i think they call it lack of funding (or in our terms crap NHS!)
    What made it even worse for me was that i had to phone the hv up for an appointment because she hadnt phoned me either!
    Like i said before-its a good job i had supportive people round me.
    Heaven forbid if i had suffered from pnd or had an emergency.
  • My hospital were fab see post - Torbay Hospital - they are really short staffed, all running round like mad things all the time but doing their best and I felt totally supported and cared for. Same with m/w after hospital, they came to see me 1st and 2nd day rang to see if I wanted them 3rd Day, arranged for Maternity assistant to come and give us a show bath as we requested on 4th day and came to see me and discharge me to h/v on 5th day (I had a few days in hosp due to emergency c section) The h/v had already phoned and made an appointment to come and see me on day 12 after his birth - she was late but apologised she had a problem with her own child. She spent a long time with us answering questions and reassured me she is on the end of the phone is we have any worries. The m/w also arranged for the surestart lady to call and she is coming to see me next week to let me know what's on in the area. I know lots of hospital/midswifes/health professionals aren't so good and I fully acknowledge we have been lucky but please don't knock the staff who are working all hours for little reward hassle the bigwigs in government and get them some more funding to get the staff. I had a fantastic student m/w helping me in hospital and found out she has a ??3000 per year bursary for the work she was putting in that was disgusting - she was an absolute star, and when I said you will have no trouble getting a job as there is such a shortage of m/w's she explained that although there is a huge shortage there are not the funds available to pay them.
  • I totally agree with what you say Suz. I couldnt fault the mw in the hosp and the ones that came to visit (when they did). I know its all down to politics and funds but it really annoys me to the fact that if i really needed help (or any other new mums) we have to be the ones to make the 1st move.
    What the heck do we pay our taxes for? Dont get me started!!! lol
  • I agree too - one of my closest friends is a midwife at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where I had Bryn and I know how difficult it is for them there.... the community mws and hvs in our area are lovely - was quite sad to say goodbye to my mw - and I promised her it would be the last time I saw her in a professional capacity!!
Sign In or Register to comment.