Transferring baby to local hospital

[dainti2001]

Hi guys, am not sure if this has been posted anywhere else on the site but am just looking for some advice/experiences regarding the title.

I was booked to have my baby in a hospital thats not the closest to me but the second closest. I had all my scans and all my antenatal was done there. My LO has been in the hospital for almost 3 months, 2 months of which was in NICU because she was soo tiny and needed CPAP for a little while.

Now talk has come up of them possibly moving me to the hospital thats closer to me in the case they need the bed space, she is now in special care but still has a lot of growing to do. Under no circumstances do i want to be sent to that hospital that they want me to go to. 2 years earlier, that same hospital stood by and let my friend's 23 + 5 week baby die because she is not 24 weeks and wouldn't survive!!! The baby lived for 2 hours.

My question is, can they force me out or do i have a choice?

 

[katy1310]

Well I was booked into a hospital 35 miles away from us but it took an hour to get there by car. I was transferred to a hospital 60 miles away to have Sophie because there was a better neonatal unit. The one I was booked into didn't take babies at less than 32 weeks.

The one that I gave birth in was actually easier for us to get to even though it was further away. It was a quicker road, plus DH worked near that one, so he was able to go in every day before work with the milk, and every day after work to see Sophie, and I was able to get up with family members and then come home with DH.

There was lots of talk of moving Sophie to the other hospital after she came off CPAP but we kept explaining to the nurses that even though it was closer, it would mean we didn't get to see Sophie every day and DH would hardly see her at all. It would have been fine to have gone there to give birth and come home the next day or whatever, but not at all practical for daily visits.

They said that if you really don't want to be moved they try to keep you where you are as long as the cot space is available, and we did stay in the same hospital right through. They said that if one of their "own babies" (as opposed to one who was meant to be in another hospital!) needed the cot space then we'd have to be moved but other than that we could stay.

Hope you get to stay where you are - hopefully as long as they don't need the cot space you should be ok. It's really upsetting to hear stories like that of your friend's baby. I'm glad your LO is doing well and hopefully now she's in special care she'll not be too long - fingers crossed she puts on weight nice and fast and gets home soon xxxxx

 

[Marleysgirl]

Talk to the PALS service at the hospital where your baby is now (Patient Advice & Liaison Service) and ask them how the NHS "Patient Choice" (your right to choose your hospital) applies in a case such as this.

 

[sue247]

My situation was a little different to yours in that i was booked into my local hospital (Mayday in Croydon) and when i developed pre eclampsia i was transerred to St Georges to deliver as they had better facilities if my baby was born at 24 weeks (he was born at 28 weeks in the end). They decided to move him back to Mayday and i fought the decision as I was happy with St Georges and had not heard good things about special care in Mayday. I was unable to stop them moving him back to the other hospital. As you booked into the hospital your baby is at i would not have thought that they could force you to have your baby moved, but i don't know. I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Laura2919]

My situation was a little different to yours in that i was booked into my local hospital (Mayday in Croydon) and when i developed pre eclampsia i was transerred to St Georges to deliver as they had better facilities if my baby was born at 24 weeks (he was born at 28 weeks in the end). They decided to move him back to Mayday and i fought the decision as I was happy with St Georges and had not heard good things about special care in Mayday. I was unable to stop them moving him back to the other hospital. As you booked into the hospital your baby is at i would not have thought that they could force you to have your baby moved, but i don't know. I hope it all works out for you.

Same..

I was booked to have Chloe and Jaycee at Epsom hospital and I was transferred to St Georges to have the girls because their NNU was a level 3 and was able to provide the best care for them, when I actually went into labour a rude woman came in to say they couldnt keep the twins there as they didnt have the room. Chloe was there for about 8 hrs and Jaycee was there for 2 hrs. They were taken 70 miles away to a hospital in Kent while I stayed in St Georges.. I was discharged 5 days later and went down to see them. This hospital had rooms for us to stay and on the 4th day we were told Chloe and Jaycee will be transferred back to a hospital near us. They were taken to St Helier hospital and thats where they stayed until they came home at 4 weeks old.. but point to this is I couldnt stop them being transferred anywhere the only thing is once a baby is out of their care and into the care of another hospital they wash their hands of them. I get a letter every year about going to the Neonatal party at St georges and I am going but really I dont know why because it wasnt the hospital that cared for them. Just delivered them.

 

[Marleysgirl]

Stand your ground and refuse the move, see how they react. That's all I can suggest.

I read various hospital's Transfer Protocol documents when they threatened to transfer Andrew from Central Manchester (where I'd been booked, where he'd been born, and within whose catchment I lived) to Ashton (which is nowhere near me, has bad public transport, and a very bad reputation). I stood my ground, I shouted, I fought, I cried publicly. And then it transpired that somebody had made a mistake and he shouldn't have been listed for transfer anyway.

Anyway, the one thing I did find in all the protocols that I could find online, was that parental consent is normally required. So what would happen if the parent refused?