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Maternity Ward facilities

Posted By whispercy58

"Maternity Ward facilities"

About: North Shore Private Hospital

(as the patient),

I had a c-section at North Shore Private Hospital (NSPH). The operation was smooth, however, this review is to warn others about the maternity ward facilities.

By default, the rooms have single beds and a chair for breastfeeding. Regardless of COVID, a partner is allowed to stay for the duration of the recovery (5 nights for me). However, it seems no accommodation is made for them. We asked about what our options are and we were advised they can swap us to a room with a double bed.

Despite chasing this up nearly every day, this never happened. In the end, my partner had to go home and get some camping gear so he could sleep on the floor in the room with me.

Comparing to other private facilities, my husband was admitted into another hospital for something else recently and in my opinion, his private room was far superior to NSPH. Prior to COVID, we also visited friends at another private hospital and that was also far superior in my opinion.

If you have a choice, based on our experience, we would recommend against this maternity ward, due to its dated and cramped facilities.

On a positive note, 90% of the staff were amazing.

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Responses

Response from Care Opinion 4 years ago
We have made a change
Care Opinion

Submitted on 31/08/2020 at 8:53 AM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 8:54 AM

This response has been submitted by Care Opinion Australia on behalf of North Shore Private Hospital.

Dear whispercy58,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences at North Shore Private Hospital. On the one hand, I am really pleased to hear your caesarean section went smoothly and hope you are recovering well and enjoying time with your newborn.

On the other hand, I am sorry to hear you were disappointed with the accommodation on offer for your partner. We certainly understand that the birth of a child is a really special time and we do everything we can to make it a positive experience for our patients. I would like to offer you some information in the hope that it may help to answer some of your questions.

If a patient has a caesarean section they must spend night one in a single bed for ease of nursing, and in this type of room, we provide a recliner chair for the partner. We also have a system which allows patients to add their name to a request list for a room upgrade. Since May, our records indicate all patients who have requested a room upgrade have not waited more than 2 days, so I really do apologise for any communication errors on our part as this does not appear to have been the case for you. I also want to assure you we have recognised and acted upon the demand for more double beds to accommodate partners in our maternity ward, as we have ordered 16 additional double beds which are due to arrive next month, on top of the 19 double beds we currently have in our maternity ward. We also have fully renovated all maternity rooms and bathrooms to ensure comfortable surroundings for our patients.

Once again I would like to offer you my apologies for any disappointment and I would be happy to discuss this topic personally with you at any time. I can be reached on (02) 8425 3291.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Virgona

Clinical Manager, Maternity Services

North Shore Private Hospital

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by whispercy58 (the patient)

Your claim that you provide a recliner chair was not our experience.

After asking about something to lay on (we had to ask, nothing is provided by default), a reclining chair was offered to my husband one night but the nurse made it clear they were doing us a favour because it was not allowed. They also made sure to take it away the next morning.

We asked another nurse if we could borrow a recliner again on a subsequent night. They, in my opinion, sternly made it clear that this was not permissible and while other nurses do it, they must enforce the rules. They offered no other alternatives.

To be 100% clear, we chased it up every day. My husband would take walks around the floor to stretch his legs and had seen multiple unoccupied double beds (not the paid paternity suites near the lounge).

I'll also note that getting camping gear (or an inflatable bed) was a suggestion given to us by the nursing staff there. This is apparently more common than you are aware, in my belief.

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