"The situation could have been managed much better"

I completed a frozen embryo transfer at GRI Glasgow Royal Infirmary (IVF) which unfortunately resulted in a missed miscarriage. I found out about the miscarriage & was then seen by my consultant at GRI. I was advised I would need two scans one week apart to confirm the pregnancy loss. My consultant at GRI then provided me with a detailed letter explaining what had happened and a print of the two scans which were taken one week apart. They told me to contact my local EPAS for guidance on medical management.

I contacted EPAS, was scanned, and told the initial scans by GRI were not acceptable as they did not have 3 measurements on each scan. This news was really upsetting as by this point I was looking for to get the next steps over with to enable me to move on. I was asked to provide some other paperwork via email to support my transfer date. I was told this would be taken to a meeting & would be reviewed to see if the paperwork provided would be acceptable.

I got a call to explain that the paperwork provided (by an NHS consultant) wasn't acceptable & that I would need to be rescanned before I could take the next steps. This was extremely upsetting given IVF is a hard enough process without miscommunication between them & yourselves with what paperwork is acceptable to you. I completely understand that you have guidelines to follow, however I feel this could have been managed better given the sensitive nature. Either GRI (assisted conception unit) should be contacted to advise what Information you will accept or you should aliases with GRI & request the direct patients straight to you while they are also being seen by GRI.

IVF is a traumatic thing to go through & for me this has been made worse by having to go so long without any help & having to have X4 scans to confirm the same thing.

I was finally booked in for a D&C procedure. I was initially booked in on a Wednesday, but got a call on the Monday at around 4pm to say I was on the list to come in on the Tuesday (the following day) & they asked if anyone had contacted me to inform, but I had not been informed until this call.  No one had notified me of this & I was lucky that the person who booked me in seen my name on the list & called me to see if I knew it had been changed, which I didn't. I then had to organise care for my son at short notice, my husband had to change his day off work at short notice & I had to mentally prepare within a few hours. I felt like the whole situation was a mess & could have been manged much better given my circumstances.

I would like to add that all the nurses and staff were fantastic & are a credit to the department.