TY - JOUR T1 - Pride and prejudice in the NHS JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 398 LP - 398 DO - 10.3399/bjgp20X711977 VL - 70 IS - 697 AU - Judith Dawson Y1 - 2020/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/70/697/398.abstract N2 - Friday lunchtime, on call, mid-pandemic. A message from the midwife asked me to phone a lady requiring referral to the early miscarriage unit as she had a private scan result that showed no detectable fetal heartbeat. It transpired that this patient, in her late twenties, had a distressing obstetric history that included a stillborn child, a neonatal death, and intervening treatment for malignancy. She had sought an early ultrasound in the private sector that had shown a missed miscarriage at 10 weeks’ gestation. Quite naturally she had contacted her midwife to be told that only a GP could refer her to the NHS service.When I did this, the on-call clinician was scathing about patients who had early scans in the private sector and the problems this caused. It took some persistence to relay the context of this patient and her distress and arrange an assessment. ‘Well, anyway … ER -