Queensland Health forced to remind staff not to test pregnant women with mobile phone torches after patient Nikkole Southwell’s horrific miscarriage experience
- The hospital treatment of the pregnant woman prompted a review
- The review at Ipswich Hospital was delivered this week.
Doctors have been reminded not to use mobile phone flashlights to examine pregnant women following the traumatic experience of a woman who suffered a miscarriage.
The state government ordered a full internal review of Ipswich Hospital in Queensland after Nikkole Southwell she lost her son at 12 weeks in April of this year.
The Fernvale woman claimed paramedics placed her fetus in a biohazard bag on the way to Ipswich Hospital and when she arrived she had to sit in her own blood holding the bag with sheets around her waist in the hospital waiting room. .
Ms Southwell also claims that she was treated in a curtained cubicle covered in another patient’s blood and that Staff used the flashlight from her partner’s phone to examine her before she was released.
“I lost my baby and they took away my dignity,” she said. the courier mail.
She said that in her vulnerable state she was left holding her baby for ‘everyone to see’.
Nikkole Southwell (pictured) lost her son in April and claimed paramedics put the fetus in a biohazard bag that was sitting in the waiting room at Ipswich hospital.
Ms Southwell claims staff at Ipswich Hospital (pictured) failed to provide her with adequate follow-up care, saying she lost her baby and her dignity during the experience.
The review of Ms Southwell’s treatment at Ipswich Hospital ordered by Health Minister Shannon Fentiman was delivered this week.
The review recommends that a further comprehensive review of the model of care used for miscarriage be carried out at Ipswich Hospital.
It also specifically instructs staff not to use mobile phones to screen patients.
Staff are also reminded to check and change all emergency department curtains if necessary and a review of Queensland ambulance delivery protocols should be carried out to ensure that all items are with a patient, including biohazard bags. , doctors are informed.
“I wish a lot of these were not just recommendations for WMH (West Moreton Health) but for all public hospitals in Queensland,” Ms Southwell said on Wednesday.
“(My partner and I) live with some mental health effects that have come from the situation and the circumstances but we are fine and with each new day we are learning to overcome them.”
The Health Minister previously said it was a “heartbreaking situation”.
“I want to extend my deepest condolences to Ms. Southwell and her family,” he said.
“Women’s health is one of my top priorities and I want to make sure women across Queensland have access to compassionate and appropriate care.”
Her case echoes that of Breanna Tottle, 26, also from south-east Queensland, who bled for 13 weeks after miscarrying her second child in late September.
Breanna Tottle, 26, from southeast Queensland, bled for most of the summer after miscarrying her second child in late September.
She claims hospital staff failed to scan her uterus on several visits and it wasn’t until she went to a private obstetrician that she received proper care.
The obstetrician was shocked to hear that Mrs. Tottle had been bleeding for 13 weeks straight and was now anemic due to the amount of blood she had lost.
He spent $4,000 on C&D surgery that stopped the bleeding the next day.
After her ordeal, Ms Tottle said she was contacted by a client liaison officer after she left a review for the hospital.
He was asked to attend a meeting with the hospital’s CEOs, who said his experience would be used as a training exercise for staff.
