Exclusive
James Reed
A MOTHER who was left sitting in a pool of blood for more than three hours after giving birth was eventually forced to phone her mother for help because staff at a Yorkshire hospital were so stretched.
Miriam Grice has criticised staffing levels at St James's Hospital, in Leeds, where she claims just two midwives were left to look after 26 mothers.
She had given birth to her daughter Sophie at 10.40am. When her mother, Janet Richardson, arrived at about 3pm she was still in the delivery suite.
The effects of the epidural meant it was difficult for Mrs Grice to look after herself and the first proper help she had after giving birth was when her mother arrived.
When Mrs Grice was eventually moved to a post-natal ward later that day she was told that two midwives were looking after 26 mothers – figures disputed by the hospital – and largely left to fend for herself.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St James's, admitted that only two midwives were on duty instead of three as normal but insisted staffing maternity services was a national problem.
Mrs Grice paid tribute to the midwives on duty when she gave birth but said they had been left in an impossible position.
The mother-of two said: "I feel let down by St James's or the NHS generally but I don't feel let down by the individual midwives.
"There were two midwives during the day and two during the night. It was chaos. One of the midwives was nearly in tears she was so distraught.
"They said they wanted to provide the care they were trained to provide but they just didn't have the time to do it. If I was a first time mother I would have panicked."
Just two years earlier Mrs Grice had given birth to her first son Joshua at the same hospital. She said: "That time I was cleaned up straight away and they took me straight up the post- natal ward. I was surprised at the difference this time."
Mrs Richardson was appalled by her daughter's experience and the stress staff were under and has now demanded an explanation from the hospital.
She said: "My daughter called me and asked me to come in and give her a bed bath. I went straight in and the nurse brought me a bowl of water and said she was really grateful for the help. When we got to the post-natal ward we realised how upset staff were. They were nearly in tears. They had been on all day without any breaks.
"I am not an angry person, anger doesn't do any good, but I am really really concerned."
Mrs Richardson has written a letter to the hospital in which she says: "Our outcome was a happy one, we have a beautiful baby and a happy daughter and son-in-law. But it could have been so different."
A Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: "Given the nature of the service, demand for maternity care on any given day is unpredictable and there may be peaks and troughs in activity. The trust tries to adopt flexible working arrangements to accommodate this variation.
"There are 24 beds on Ward Three and there would normally be three midwives and additional support staff. On this day there was pressure on the delivery suite and only two midwives with support staff on the post-natal ward to support 15 mothers and their babies.
"Staffing in midwifery is a national problem. At the trust we have recently carried out a review and agreed minimum safe levels. We are working to ensure staffing arrangements are as responsive as possible."
The family's complaints about staffing levels at St James's came as many hospitals look at job cuts as a way of balancing their books. Scarborough Hospital is considering cutting the number of midwives it employs among 99 proposed redundancies.
Meanwhile union bosses in Chesterfield are planning a mass protest tomorrow against plans to axe 43 jobs at the town's hospital.
The lunchtime protest by unions representing members at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS foundation trust is being held to coincide with a separate meeting of trust managers, who are meeting to decide which staff will go.
A further public meeting has been arranged by
Unison's North Derby-
shire healthcare branch
for Thursday at the Winding Wheel, Chesterfield, at 7pm.
That meeting has been called as a result of 5,000 NHS job cuts across the East Midlands and the sale of NHS Logistics to a private courier firm.
james.reed@ypn.co.uk
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