Ex-midwife hits out at “privatisaiton” of NHS after “shocking” treatment

A former midwife who was treated by two different hospitals after falling over at a petrol station last week said the “shocking” treatment she received is a symptom of NHS privatisation.

Frances Hook, 84, from Blackheath, sustained cuts and bruises across her face and head after falling over while changing the pressure to her tyres at a petrol station in Kidbrooke Park Road, on Friday morning.

She said: “When I fell I was hidden by my car so no one could see me. After the pain subsided I started to bang on the car and call for help and a man found me and called an ambulance.

“It took two hours before it turned up. When it arrived they were really good and took me straight to Queen Elizabeth Woolwich hospital.”

But, at the hospital Ms Hook said she had to wait for four-and-a-half hours for pain relief and fluids despite constantly asking for help.

At 7pm, Ms Hook was taken for a CT scan on her head and neck, which revealed no permanent damage. But she said throughout her visit at the hospital she was not seen by a doctor and no one cleaned the blood from her eyes.

She said: “A physician associate was in the room with me at one point but he never spoke to me or assessed me properly.”

Ms Hook was discharged at 12.15am. On Saturday morning she took herself to A&E at Lewisham Hospital, concerned that the cut under her right eyelid might have become infected.

Ms Hook described her care at Lewisham hospital as “effective”, but said no aftercare or further appointment was arranged.

Ms Hook said her injuries are now healing but she has been left “shocked” by the care she received.

She said: “I’m not angry at the staff, it’s not their fault. They have been pushed into this corner.

“I believe the dismantling of the NHS is the core cause of the care that I and the public now receive.”

Formerly a senior midwife at Guy’s Hospital, Ms Hook was made redundant 1993. 

She said: “Staff don’t understand that they are public servants anymore. It’s a business.

“When I was in training we were taught that it was a privilege to care for the public and the elderly.”

Whilst working at Guy’s Hospital, Ms Hook was one of three managers on the maternity ward.

She said: “I worked for the NHS before they brought the trusts in.

“I was responsible for all the figures and data on our ward and I worked with social workers and police. We had a proactive system.

“Now it’s all independent bodies and companies – they aren’t in the wards providing the care, they don’t understand.”

The Health and Social Care Act in 2012, brought in by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, forced local health bodies to put contracts for services out to tender.

Since then, billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been handed to private companies to treat NHS patients, whilst quality of care has dropped, according to a study published by the University of Oxford in 2022.

Last year private hospitals in England carried out more procedures on the NHS’s behalf than ever before, according to the Independent Healthcare Providers Network.

Ms Hook said: “Across the country services are being taken away. It’s dangerous.”

A spokeswoman for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said: “We are truly sorry to hear about Frances’s experience.

“We have spoken directly with Frances to apologise and assure her that patient care remains our number one priority, even when our A&Es are extremely busy.

“This was the case on Friday when Frances received pain relief and fluids within three hours of arriving at A&E. She was seen by appropriate medical professionals throughout her time with us and was given a full assessment, including blood tests and a thorough CT scan.

“Her case was also reviewed by a consultant before she was discharged home. A senior member of our nursing team will stay in touch with Frances over the coming days to ensure that she continues to recover and remains well.”

Pictured top: Queen Elizabeth Woolwich hospital, Ms Hook’s injuries after her accident (Picture: Google Street View/ Frances Hook)