Friday 22 August 2014

NHS

Having worked for the NHS for the majority of my career I have always been a supporter of what it stood for. 
I still do believe that we have the best health care system in the world. 
Unfortunately I think that over recent years the withdrawl of funds from certain areas, and the over spending on management  rather than front line nurses has led to a less efficient service.
I think that the care we received from the majority of the staff we came into contact with was good, however their were staff we met with that we all thought should have left their job many years ago. We found that some more senior staff were less empathetic and seemed to treat us as if we were an inconvenience. 
They seemed to forget that we were human beings going through the most difficult and emotional time in our lives. I know that staff are always pushed for time and that they are always busy, but we needed someone to be with us to help us make sense of what was going on. 
Carrie was a young 19 year old going through her first pregnancy. She went from being so excited and looking forward to having a baby to finding out the most heartbreaking news. She needed staff to spend time with her to explain everything that was happening and to go through all her options with her, instead at times we felt like we were just being herded in and out as quick as possible. 
One senior nurse specialist made us feel like Charlies life was not worth fighting for. How dare she make us feel like that. This was not her family, this was not her child. She was supposed to be there to give support but she made us feel like all we should be thinking about was terminating the pregnancy. 
Carrie was amazing throughout and despite her young years she always stayed strong in her mind that whilst Charlie was giving a fight then so would she. She grew up very quickly and showed us all what a very strong young lady she had become. I don't think any of us could have felt prouder of Carrie than we did. 
Carries consultant was a nice man and I always remember him saying at the scans not to give up hope. He never gave us false hope but he also never made us think that all hope was gone. 
The midwives we came into contact with on the delivery suite were all really kind but we did say after that we wished they communicated better with each other. Every time there was a change of staff we would have to go through our story with them and several had never heard of Potters Syndrome, so we were giving them information. At times this was ok as it gave us something different to focus on but at other times we didn't want to have to keep going over it. It was hard enough having to go through it let alone having to keep repeating ourselves. 
Our experiences with the NHS after Charlies death and Carries discharge from hospital was a very different story. 
At times it made me feel ashamed to have been part of this institution. I had always been very proud to say I was a nurse and felt good saying I worked for the NHS but some of the experiences we have had have made me feel ashamed of the service.
 I remember at times trying to rationalise the mistakes that were being made and almost making excuses for the staff. Then I would realise that this was my family they were letting down, and they were letting us down so badly. 
I know that it is only a small section of staff we have had bad experiences with and as a whole they do still provide a good service under very difficult circumstances, but the way they let Carrie down should never have happened.
We have now made it our mission to make a change to the services provided to bereaved parents and their families and we will fight until there is a change. We have come up against obstacles and barriers along our way so far but we will not give up or be put off just because it is getting difficult. We know we are asking questions that are making NHS bosses feel uncomfortable but they get paid enough money to make up for a little bit of pressure. At the end of the day it is their job to provide the best possible quality of care and if they are not doing this they need to review their services and make appropriate changes. We have set up a petition on Change.org asking for co-ordinated package of aftercare for bereaved families. We need to get as many signatures as possible to get the government to take notice of us and to see we are not going away. If you are reading this please go along and sign our petition and get everyone you know to sign it as well.
 www.change.org/p/department-of-health-to-ensure-a-coordinated-package-of-aftercare-for-all-families-following-the-loss-of-a-baby-child-which-will-involve-midwives-gps-and-full-support-networks

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