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Made to feel insignificant

Posted By March19

"Made to feel insignificant"

About: St John's Hospital / Gynaecology

(as a service user),

Called at 3am to say I was bleeding and wondering what to do. Staff member at this point was lovely and advised me on what to do saying I'd be given a call later that morning. 

Waited until around 3pm and thought I better call as I hadn't heard anything and I was still bleeding. New staff member who answered made me feel as though I was being a pest. A lot of sighing, huffing and puffing. Telling me how busy their day was, hadn't had lunch etc... Meanwhile I'm having a miscarriage, my world is ending at that point and I just want support and find out what to do. Eventually told to come in for a blood test. Called back later to say I would not be coming in mainly because I felt like a drain on the service, a service meant exactly for what I was calling about.

It is coming up 10 months since this call and I still think about how stupid they made me feel when I was the one needing help. I know how busy services get but you never let your patients feel it. Especially not one that's miscarrying.

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Responses

Response from Gillian Treadwell, Senior Charge Nurse, Gynaecology, St John's Hospital, NHS Lothian yesterday
Gillian Treadwell
Senior Charge Nurse, Gynaecology, St John's Hospital,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 24/04/2025 at 15:20
Published on Care Opinion at 15:50

Hi March19

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. I would like to start by saying how sorry I am for the distress that you have gone through, both due to your miscarriage and the way you were made to feel during your contact with our service. Experiencing a miscarriage can be a deeply distressing event and you deserved to feel supported, listened to and cared for throughout.

You absolutely did the correct thing in calling in the early hours in the morning for advice and I'm pleased to hear that this initial contact was a positive one and that the Nurse you spoke with provided appropriate reassurance and guidance. I am however, sorry that your later interaction left you feeling dismissed and unsupported - particularly at such a vulnerable and emotional time for you. This is not the level of care and compassion that we aim to deliver and I am sorry that you were made to feel like "a pest" when what you needed was reassurance and kindness.

Your feedback will be shared with the team so that we can reflect on what happened and ensure that we learn from it and improve the care we provide in the future. I fully agree with you that no patient, especially someone experiencing a miscarriage should ever feel like a drain on the service as our role is to support and provide care regardless of how busy our day has been.

Once again, I appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention. If you would like us to investigate this further, or want the opportunity to discuss this directly then I would suggest that you contact the Patient Experience Team by Telephone on 0131 536 3370 (Mon-Fri, 9-2pm) or by email LOTH.feedback@nhs.scot

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