NHS Lothian apologise after pregnant woman left to wait 'seven days for hospital room'
NHS Lothian has issued an apology after a heavily pregnant woman from Edinburgh reportedly left waiting seven days for a room.
Michael and Hannah, who prefer to be identified by their first names only, arrived at the Royal Infirmary on August 19 at 6 p.m. for a scheduled induction, having reached 41 weeks of pregnancy.
Hannah says that 48 hours after arriving, the couple were placed on the ward waiting list but claim they were not given a room to begin the water-breaking process until 75 hours later. By the seventh day of their hospital stay, they were finally assigned a room, but it was decided that Hannah would undergo a C-section as she was "too exhausted."
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The health board attributed the delay to an unexpected "surge in activity" at the maternity ward. Their baby boy was born on August 25 at 4:45 p.m. In total, the couple spent nine days in the hospital, including time for recovery, reports Edinburgh Live.
Michael shared that his wife was "absolutely beside herself" from the stress and sleepless nights.
Michael said: "We arrived at the Royal Infirmary for a scheduled induction at 6pm on August 19 but we didn't actually get started until 1am.
"The first round of the induction didn't take so we had to do another 24 hours but we just rolled with the punches and that was okay.
"48 hours later we were finally at the point where the active labour was happening and that's when we got onto the labour ward list.
"75 hours later we got into a room to start the water breaking process, so it took seven days for us to get a room.
"My wife was exhausted at this point so the doctor agreed she should have a C-section because she truly did not have the energy to birth a child at that point.
"Our baby boy was thankfully born on August 25 and we left the hospital on August 27 after a day of recovery.
"How can that be an appropriate medical response?"
The 34-year-old dad added he knew the "midwives hands were tied" but it was frustrating having no contact from management.
He continued: "My wife is still exhausted now and I feel so frustrated. We tried our best to be patient but management knew how long we had been waiting and nothing was happening.
"It’s tough looking back on it at this point because we have a healthy baby and we are so thankful and fortunate for that, but at the time, my wife was beside herself and we didn't know when it was all going to end.
"Waiting in a ward with up to six people for seven days was exhausting. We had sleepless nights in crowded rooms. It just feels like what was supposed to be a special time for us, was really negatively impacted by negligence and disorganisation.
"We were not set up for success."
Allister Short, Service Director for Women’s and Children’s, NHS Lothian, said: "We apologise for their experience and any distress caused.
“The birth of a baby can be unpredictable and by the very nature of maternity services, there can be unplanned surges in activity, which was the case during the Mrs Hufton’s arrival in hospital.
“The Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health is Scotland’s busiest maternity unit and is the regional centre for complex pregnancy and childbirth. Routine contingency measures are put in place during activity surges, such as clinical prioritisation where we work in order of the most urgent and emergency cases, and with other maternity units, to make sure that women and their families continue to receive the safe, effective and quality care they need.
“If patients or their families have questions or concerns about their care, we urge them to contact us directly.
"Between January 2022 and December 2023, our Maternity teams provided care to 24,016 women, resulting in over 227,000 appointments, as well as labour itself. A small number of complaints were received during this time accounted for a small percentage (0.37%) of the total number of patients.
"We remain fully committed to listening to our patients, learning from their experiences, and continually enhancing the quality of care we provide."
Michael and Hannah's experience follows the revelation, through a Freedom of Information request, that 90 patients lodged 342 complaints regarding maternal care at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) between January 2022 and December 2023.
Each complaint was categorized into specific areas of care, resulting in a higher overall number of complaints compared to the total number of complainants, which stood at 90.
The category with the most complaints was "inadequate/inappropriate treatment," with 63, followed by "staff incompetence/negligence" with 36, and "staff-clinical judgment" with 35.
In response to the figures, NHS Lothian officials noted that the number of complaints was low in comparison to the total number of women who gave birth during this period.
Of the 90 individuals who filed complaints, eight complaints were received in both May and November 2023, six in April and June, and fewer than five in each of the remaining months across 2022 and 2023.
In total, 29 complaints were upheld, 43 were partly upheld, and 13 were not upheld.
Louise Williamson, who discharged herself after a "horrendous" childbirth experience earlier this year, said she was "not surprised" by the figures.
Responding to the stats provided by the health board, Louise, 31, said: "The response to my original story was huge, but at the same time I'm not surprised.
"I felt I wasn't alone because when you're pregnant people talk to you about what's coming and their own experience. I've heard about other people's and it can be scary. People's concerns need to be heard and awareness has to be raised.
"Something within the hospital needs to change. As much as I was shocked it confirms the feelings I had already about other people coming through a similar experience. It's like they're going through the motions and staff were coming and going without proper care.
"Obviously everyone's experience is different but I think the way their procedures and the way they look at things needs looked at. I even had people contacting me after I shared my story and noticed a lot of people commented claiming to have experienced something similar.
"Writing a complaint isn't a quick process either. As a new mum I wanted to share time with my newborn and it took me a while to process everything that happened to me before property documenting it and submitting a complaint as I had to recover physically and mentally
"Don't get me wrong, I praised them in other areas and do have respect for staff as it's a challenging job but I felt like there were obviously areas I was let down on.
"I had several meeting but didn't really get the answers I was looking for and fully expect a standard response to my complaint saying they will investigate which I imagine also puts people off taking the time to bother complaining."
Maxine Palmer, Head of Service Development at NCT (National Childbirth Trust) said: “After decades of underfunding and lack of resources, many families are having babies supported by a maternity system that is overworked and understaffed. Parents in Edinburgh deserve to have access to safe and quality care, but instead they have been let down.
“We know maternity workers work incredibly hard to support pregnant women through this vulnerable time, but too often the safety and wellbeing of these women and their babies is compromised. Women often report lack of compassionate care, not being listened to or taken seriously during labour and birth. It's essential that women feel safe and confident to ask questions about their care and during changing circumstances. This comes from strong and compassionate leadership, continuity of care and a properly resourced workforce.
"If anyone feels unhappy about their care, they can request their birth notes, talk through their experience with healthcare professionals or consider making a complaint.
" NCT’s website offers information about how to get a copy of your maternity notes after birth. Birthrights, also provide information and advice about your legal rights and the Birth Trauma Association supports those who have experienced traumatic births.”
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