Milton Keynes Hospital scares me!

[Blah11]

1 year of specialist training vs 3 years of specialist training I know what I'd pick

 

[LorelaiLana]

Why is there a need for 3 yr training for MW and for only 1 yr fellowship for OBGYN ?
Its the previous 12 yr education for an OBGYN that makes the difference!

 

[Pixie2320]

1 year of specialist training vs 3 years of specialist training I know what I'd pick

Lol nope, I think I'll still stick with the 13 years of medical training.. Not to mention my OBGYN has been practicing for over 30 years so I think she's set in the specialized training dept

And after some looking, it seems to be a MW here can take anywhere from 1 year to 3 years ...yikes!

 

[Blah11]

ah well we'll agree to disagree.


not so much maternity related but people seem to have really weird ideas about doctor and nurse roles in a ward setting. I work in a ward with 30 patients and we have 2 consultants and a senior house officer (in years 2-3 of their training, who change every month or so). The SHO is on the ward 4 days a week 9-5 and looks after every patient. The consultants are on the ward 2-4 times a week. twice for a ward round (where they speak to the patient) and twice for a board rundown (without seeing the patient). Once a week is a team meeting (with nurses, doctors, physios, OTs and social work).
The nurses however, are there every single day 24 hours. Most do atleast 24 hours a week on the ward and a lot do full time When on duty, the nurse usually has a set bay to attend to (so 6-12 patients for 1 or 2 staff nurses and 1-3 care assistants depending on staffing). so really, the nursing staff are going to know the patient in general a lot better than the doctors do and a lot of the time doctors rely on the nurses for information to help diagnose and to treat.

 

[Pixie2320]

ah well we'll agree to disagree.


not so much maternity related but people seem to have really weird ideas about doctor and nurse roles in a ward setting. I work in a ward with 30 patients and we have 2 consultants and a senior house officer (in years 2-3 of their training, who change every month or so). The SHO is on the ward 4 days a week 9-5 and looks after every patient. The consultants are on the ward 2-4 times a week. twice for a ward round (where they speak to the patient) and twice for a board rundown (without seeing the patient). Once a week is a team meeting (with nurses, doctors, physios, OTs and social work).
The nurses however, are there every single day 24 hours. Most do atleast 24 hours a week on the ward and a lot do full time When on duty, the nurse usually has a set bay to attend to (so 6-12 patients for 1 or 2 staff nurses and 1-3 care assistants depending on staffing). so really, the nursing staff are going to know the patient in general a lot better than the doctors do and a lot of the time doctors rely on the nurses for information to help diagnose and to treat.

Absolutely agree about nurses, they do 90% of the care and get about 1/4 the pay I have several friends who are nurses so I get the run down all the time Doctors who don't even show up or come in the room until 5 minutes before you crown- all kindsa good stories

 

[AngelBunny]

ah well we'll agree to disagree.


not so much maternity related but people seem to have really weird ideas about doctor and nurse roles in a ward setting. I work in a ward with 30 patients and we have 2 consultants and a senior house officer (in years 2-3 of their training, who change every month or so). The SHO is on the ward 4 days a week 9-5 and looks after every patient. The consultants are on the ward 2-4 times a week. twice for a ward round (where they speak to the patient) and twice for a board rundown (without seeing the patient). Once a week is a team meeting (with nurses, doctors, physios, OTs and social work).
The nurses however, are there every single day 24 hours. Most do atleast 24 hours a week on the ward and a lot do full time When on duty, the nurse usually has a set bay to attend to (so 6-12 patients for 1 or 2 staff nurses and 1-3 care assistants depending on staffing). so really, the nursing staff are going to know the patient in general a lot better than the doctors do and a lot of the time doctors rely on the nurses for information to help diagnose and to treat.

this is totally true, the nurses do all the work & look after the patients every day & the doctors pop in twice a week to make their diagnosis etc. to be honest in a resuscitation situation i'd want a nurse doing it, the doctors tend to do it wrong. they also don't tend not to know what's going on with the patients as they aren't hands on, at all. they hardly ever even touch the patient. this is only from my experience on my ward though.

 

[Blah11]

you get some really amazing doctors but theres not many who will walk a confused patient back to their bed when theres no nurses about

 

[LorelaiLana]

On a lighter note I was wondering the other day if I would want or not want a nurse like Nurse Jackie from the TV Show.

On the one hand she is highly competent and takes extremely good care of the patients, goes above and beyond the call of duty! But on the other she is a overworked drug addict!

 

[Pixie2320]

On a lighter note I was wondering the other day if I would want or not want a nurse like Nurse Jackie from the TV Show.

On the one hand she is highly competent and takes extremely good care of the patients, goes above and beyond the call of duty! But on the other she is a overworked drug addict!

Lol! I love Nurse Jackie She kicks ass and takes names, drug addict or not

 

[LorelaiLana]

On a lighter note I was wondering the other day if I would want or not want a nurse like Nurse Jackie from the TV Show.

On the one hand she is highly competent and takes extremely good care of the patients, goes above and beyond the call of duty! But on the other she is a overworked drug addict!

Lol! I love Nurse Jackie She kicks ass and takes names, drug addict or not

 

[claire23]

MWs are MWs, not nursing so no, they don't need to learn basic nursing things, they learn basic MW things. Some of it is the same, a lot of it isn't.

I totally agree, but things like giving jabs, resuscitation, giving out medication, diagnosing problems etc should all be included in MW training. If it's not, then there's something seriously wrong with the system

You seem to forget that midwifes ONLY deal with uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries. If there was a situation needing resuscitation, diagnosing, prescribing drugs, etc - then a consultant would be involved - and that works really well, because the vast majority of pregnancies are UNcomplicated that do not need a specialist input. If you were to train all the midwifes to do the job of a consultant, then we wouldn't need the midwifes, and just employ the consultants but the NHS would go completely bunkcrupt.

nurses & midwives are trained in resuscitation. i'm a healthcare assistant on a medical ward & even i'm trained to resuscitate adults, children and babies. fully qualified nurses aren't even allowed to diagnose anything. only a doctor or consultant can diagnose, hence why they spend 9+ years learning to be a doctor, and hence why they are paid a hell of a lot more than nurses. i was trained in & qualified to give medication in my last job as a senior in a care home, however the NHS doesn't allow this & i'd have to be a qualified nurse to do it there. It all comes down to accountability xx

AngelBunny, I din't mean basic resus, of course everyone in the trust is trained to do basic resus, but obviously by that time the senior help will be on hand. Noone would expect you to carry out a full resuscitation by yourself

 

[claire23]

Not sure about there, but here the requirements to become an OBGYN are as follows -
4 years undergraduate

4 years medical school

4 years internship/residency

1 year fellowship (for Obstetric)

= 13 long, hard years!

In UK

5 years medical school

2 years foundation years (general medicine)

and then 7 years of specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology:
2 year basic specialist training
3 years intermediate specialist training
2 years advanced

And then can go into sub-specialty

 

[jakemybaby]

Jakemybaby -> You know what was the most damming part of the MK PCT report and other surveys, the employee satisfation of the MW's were an all time low, so many MW's are leaving the job or moving to other practice/consortium/PCT/private and that a huge % of them have no job satisfaction and feel overworked and would quit the profession if they had a chance.

While I feel really bad for them that they do not enjoy their job, that worries me a lot w.r.t to babies. If this was anyother non-health related profession or non-baby involved profession then none of this wud bother/alarm me becuase its the norm, but since its child and life and death related profession it bothers me much more than what the statistics generally shd do!

There are great midwifes out there who really care and do their jobs fantastically and there are some who are not so good, just like in all professions... You will get some people who work themselves to their highest standards everyday and then there will be someone who will do the bare minimum. In 2 pregnancies I have come across both sorts... Luckily this time round my doctors midwife has been brilliant with me and I feel that that bond and ease of communication has helped me through a far from easy pregnancy this time round. I am under no illusions though that I will get a wonderful midwife when the time comes to deliver... It really is a shame that we can not have the midwife we've seen through out our pregnancy deliver our babies... Can you imagine just how much tension would be relieved from the process and how gratifying that would be for the midwife? To see the journey through with their patients from start to finish.?
Ah, but back to reality and I see the point you are making. Why would the good midwifes stick around at a failing maternity unit.. Similar to how failing schools can not hold on to good teachers.
It is very sad that mk has ended up in this situation. I actually love living in mk and feel quality of life here is great, it has a lot to offer, especially young families. It is sad that women feel they have no confidence in the maternity service on offer at the hospital... And I wonder if the confidence will ever be restored as the few heartbreaking stories will always make the front pages whilst the everyday plentiful successful births never do.
Anyway, I'm waffling now! You sound like you have done a great deal of research into this already, lol, maybe too much knowledge has made it worse for you! I wish you the best what ever you decide x

 

[Shmead]

Jakemybaby -> You know what was the most damming part of the MK PCT report and other surveys, the employee satisfation of the MW's were an all time low, so many MW's are leaving the job or moving to other practice/consortium/PCT/private and that a huge % of them have no job satisfaction and feel overworked and would quit the profession if they had a chance.

This would worry me more than anything. If you have a place where lots of employees are leaving because it's turned into a terrible place to work, the employees that are left are the worst of the lot: the ones that can't get a job anywhere else and feel lucky to have a job at all. All the really good employees are the ones getting actively recruited by other places and who find it easy to find a good job elsewhere, so they are first out the door.

Basically, if a place starts out 50% good/50% crap employees, and then morale gets really bad, it's only the good ones that leave, so afterward it's like 20% good/80% crap.

 

[Cherryhrf]

Have you considered Luton & Dunstable - Noticed it wasnt on your list of Hospitals to visit. It is only 15-20 mins down the Motorway. I have had my 3 boys there and am going there for this one even though I have moved and should be using Stoke Mandeville.

I had fantastic care, No problems getting Epidurals and Mobile Epi at that. When my last son was in trouble with cord around his neck, the room filled with people so quick and they got him out quickly and safely.

Just an added option for you. Hope you make a decision soon and that you can relax and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy.

 

[LorelaiLana]

Have you considered Luton & Dunstable - Noticed it wasnt on your list of Hospitals to visit. It is only 15-20 mins down the Motorway. I have had my 3 boys there and am going there for this one even though I have moved and should be using Stoke Mandeville.

I had fantastic care, No problems getting Epidurals and Mobile Epi at that. When my last son was in trouble with cord around his neck, the room filled with people so quick and they got him out quickly and safely.

Just an added option for you. Hope you make a decision soon and that you can relax and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy.

Thanks a bunch cherryhrf!...I will add it to my list of hospitals...mobile epi is my dream come true...thanks again.

 

[heather91]

My friend gave birth there 2 weeks ago and had a terrible time. Change if you can x

 

[LorelaiLana]

Thanks Heather91!

Can you elaborate a bit if time permits? Thanks a bunch.

 

[xxsteffyxx]

I also live in Milton Keynes,

I will having the baby in Milton Keynes, i'm sorry but the media make such a bloody hype about everything. My friend lost a baby at Milton Keynes, but the baby was poorly from birth. I know that the hospital has a bad press, but so do many! Milton Keynes is just another one...

I have many many many friends and family who have had healthy happy babies at Milton Keynes hospital. My advice to you would be ask for a tour of the maternity ward, meet the midwifes, makes yourself feel better.... you should not base opinions on the press!!

 

[heather91]

Thanks Heather91!

Can you elaborate a bit if time permits? Thanks a bunch.

Yes sorry was on my phone at the time. I'll copy and paste what she said to me on FB, might be easier:

"was induced twice then finally went into labour..got to 5cm dialated without anything - they were asking gary 2 leave as they didnt think i was in labour!..then they threw me in a bath which really didnt helpi was screaming!then i said look can i have paracetemol its getting very painful. they checked and rushed me up to labour ward. that was about 9is pm.was in labour until 3 am..then my contractions stopped..ut they were still making me push!..they broke my waters then rushed me to theatre..then i started gettin contractions when they were given me the epidural - they tried to pull baby out firsttried that 4 times then nothngso was c-section..then his head dropped so they had 2 push him up then pull him out, his head got stuck.."