My wife just spent four hours waiting in Urgent Care at the nearest hospital, on the advice of the NHS Maternity Service, because she's showing signs of preeclampsia. Can lead to fatal blood clots. She's a high-risk pregnancy. Seen by an African nurse who barely speaks English, and makes multiple spellings errors in her notes and hospital letter. After four hours of waiting, she's seen by a doctor — who tells her to make her own way to another hospital to wait in the Accident & Emergency department to get tested there instead. Comes home and calls the hospital, who transfers her to a maternity service, also staffed by an African woman with an indecipherable accent, totally indifferent to the urgency of the situation. Tells her to come into the hospital and wait. We went to this same hospital months ago, when we thought she had miscarried. Took seven hours to see us, and after telling us twice we had probably lost the baby, they did an ultrasound which showed she was fine. Somehow, they managed to miss A SECOND BABY with the ultrasound, though. So now she's in A&E for another few hours, either for a life-threatening condition that's getting worse while she waits, or for something a quick scan and an Aspirin prescription will fix in moments. No wonder maternal mortality has increased. The incompetence, inefficiency, waste, and negligence in NHS maternity services is astounding. It's not just strain on the system from demand: it's that frontline staff are not compassionate or qualified. Nobody seems willing to criticise this because it's mean, but so many people who interact with NHS services have a bad story. It doesn't have to be like this. I don't care what needs to change to make it work. Just make it fit for purpose.
