Expectant pregnant Sheffield woman given taxi to Barnsley hospital as Jessop Wing had no beds

Emma Bennett, aged 39, of Ecclesfield, Sheffield, had been sent back-and-forth to the Sheffield Jessop Wing for treatment after she had gone into early labour on September 5 and a taxi was finally called for her, which took her to Barnsley District General Hospital on October 3 where she gave birth to her son a day later.

Ms Bennett said: “The midwife came and asked how do you feel about going to Barnsley and I said get me anywhere – get me on a labour ward.” She added that she was handed notes, her suitcase and she had four bags but she claimed she was not even helped on her way to the taxi.

Ms Bennett said: “I went through two automatic doors, through a lift and through the labour ward and no one helped me and I got out to the taxi and the taxi-driver was absolutely shocked. He thought he was picking up a staff member not someone whose waters had broken and who had a bleed and he asked, ‘what if something goes wrong?’, and I said, ‘just get me to Barnsley’.”

Ms Bennett told how she had initially gone into early labour at 34 weeks and five days on September 5 and she was admitted to the Jessop Wing, on Tree Root Walk, in Broomhall. She was discharged the next day as the contractions stopped but as soon as they restarted six hours later she was admitted again.

At this stage, Ms Bennett was kept on the labour ward with a view to performing a caesarean section but she claims there had been no neo-natal team available and they had considered sending her to Northampton but decided not to following a review by a consultant.

Ms Bennett, who needs injections to prevent blood-clotting, said that after her contractions had stopped again her oxygen levels were checked and she claims they were at a level that would have required hourly checks but the level had allegedly been recorded at a higher rate so checks would not be needed. She was eventually discharged home on bed-rest with a plan for an induced-birth at 38 weeks, she said, but she returned briefly the following week at 36 weeks to turn her breached child.

Ms Bennett added: “Two days before I was to be induced I had quite severe pains so I went to the hospital and they sent me home to attend an appointment to be induced.” She claims she was phoned on the day of the appointment and told there were no beds available but she later told the hospital she was in so much pain she just wanted her waters broken but they sent her home again and asked her to come back the following day.

Ms Bennett was admitted the following day for three days and she was then allegedly told they needed to deliver the baby within 24 hours but they were just waiting for a bed.

By Sunday, October 3, Ms Bennett said she was told there no beds available and she was asked how she felt about going to Barnsley District General Hospital and a taxi was arranged. Ms Bennett said: “It was a bog-standard City taxi and I felt so sorry for the bloke. He helped me out of the taxi and there was nothing I could do. I started crying and broke down but they were amazing at Barnsley. They were fantastic.”

Staff at Barnsley hospital discovered Ms Bennett had breached again but they performed a successful C-section and her new son was born on October 4.

Mother-of-four Ms Bennett added: “I do not want this to happen to someone else. If they are going to send people other places they need them to be chaperoned and cannot just put them in a taxi alone.” She has reported her concerns about the oxygen results to the midwife at Jessop’s and she is considering a more formal complaint concerning other issues during her treatment at the Jessop Wing.

The Jessop Wing has so far been unable to provide a statement after an initial contact on October 24.

Professor Chris Morley, Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very sorry that Emma had a longer wait to be induced than we would normally expect and fully appreciate why she was upset.

“Unfortunately, we had an unusually high number of unplanned clinically urgent births during the period she was waiting to be induced which had to take priority. We did ensure that Emma had regular senior clinical reviews and she was cared for in a side room on a ward within Jessops.

“When she requested to be transferred to another labour unit where she could be induced sooner, we arranged this as quickly as possible. We also responded to Emma’s request for a taxi which would take her and her partner to travel together to Barnsley Hospital.

“Prior to the transfer she was risk assessed again by the obstetrics team to make sure this was clinically safe to take place. She was not having contractions and the transfer was agreed. We understand Emma chose not to wait for her partner to travel in the taxi with her.

“We would normally expect a member of staff to escort Mrs Bennett from the ward to the taxi outside and we are reviewing why this did not happen. We would be happy to meet with Emma and her partner to discuss what happened and apologise once again that her experience was not as expected.”