Concern over intensive care ‘cot shortage’

A PREGNANT woman was admitted to three hospitals in 24 hours for an emergency C-section to deliver her seriously ill twins because of a shortage of intensive care cots.

The woman was told by doctors at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on Thursday that her babies would have to be delivered prematurely because one of the twins was not getting enough blood and oxygen.

However, according to a family source, the birth was later cancelled because the hospital did not have two free neonatal cots.

At around 4.45pm she was transferred to Wishaw General Hospital in Lanarkshire after being told there was two incubators available.

A source said: “She was prepared and fasted and then at 9am on Friday another surgeon came in and said she couldn’t have those cots because they were booked for another woman.

“She was told she would need to go to Edinburgh and that if there were no cots there she might have to be transferred down south. “It’s a disgrace.” A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “We cannot comment on individual cases, however if there is a risk to the baby and a neonatal cot is not available at the local hospital, the national practice is to transfer the pregnant woman to another hospital that does have a free neonatal cot. It is much safer to transfer a woman with a baby in the womb than allow her to give birth and then need to transfer the mother and baby.”

An NHS Lanarkshire spokesman said: “Health Boards work together as part of a Neonatal Managed Clinical Network and policies and procedures are in place to deal with such situations.”