New mothers have criticised hospital bosses for allowing 'utterly shameless' sales reps to take pictures of babies hours after they were born in a 'cash for access' arrangement.
Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board received £1,922 from baby merchandise firm Bounty, which has been accused of using 'hard selling' tactics on mothers who are still recovering from giving birth.
Under the arrangement, Bounty was also allowed to harvest the personal details from new mothers on the post-natal ward and sell it on to other companies.
Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board received £1,922 from baby merchandise firm Bounty, which has been accused of using 'hard selling' tactics on new mothers
Jenny Millar had just given birth at Wrexham Maelor Hospital when she had to repeatedly ask one woman not to take pictures.
'A rep asked to take photos and I said no straight away,' she said. 'I turned over and tried to go back to sleep, then I heard the camera going.
'She came around the other side of the bed to show me the pictures and to try to persuade me to buy them. I said no again and had to repeat myself three times before she finally went.'
Another mother at the hospital, who did not want to be named, branded the firm's tactics 'shameless'.
'Three times I had to tell the Bounty rep I didn't want a picture on the maternity ward,' she said.
'I was struggling to establish breast feeding after a caesarean section and I really did not want to be bothered, but even with the curtains closed she kept intruding.
'They dress it up as taking a nice picture and giving free samples but in reality they are using one of the most precious times in a woman's life to dredge for data to hawk to the highest bidder. They're utterly shameless.'
A Wrexham councillor, who was contacted by the two women, is now planning to write to the health board to ask for the company's access to be stopped.
Plaid Cymru's Carrie Harper said: 'Allowing high pressure selling on a maternity ward is completely unethical.
'There aren't many people more vulnerable than women after they've just given birth, they should be free to recover from childbirth and to bond with their babies in peace.'
A Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Partnership revealed that the North Wales health board received £1,922 from Bounty during a 12-month period.
Under the arrangement, Bounty was also allowed to harvest the personal details from new mothers on the post-natal ward and sell it on to other companies
In response to both parents' concerns, Bounty has apologised but said the number of complaints it receives are very low.
A spokeswoman said the company has been providing information for mothers in hospitals for 60 years.
She said: 'We are very sorry if anyone has had an experience with us that is not up to our high standards.
'Bounty fully supports and acknowledges the need to respect the privacy and dignity of families on the maternity ward.
'We work closely with the NHS to ensure our services are offered on the basis of choice and that they comply with the standards required by our hospital partners.'
Teresa Owen, executive director of public health for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: 'We aim to provide a comfortable and supportive environment for new mums and their families in our maternity units.
'Our staff are present when a representative from Bounty is on the ward and they are expected to respect the privacy and dignity of our patients. We are not currently aware of any complaints.
'If anyone does has a question or concern, we would encourage them to speak to a member of staff so that any issues can be resolved as quickly as possible.'
Geoff Ryall-Harvey, Chief Officer of the North Wales Community Health Council, immediately contacted the health board's director of nursing after MailOnline informed him of the issue.
'I totally agree that it is opportunistic and inappropriate to approach new mums with this hard sell technique,' he said. 'The baby formula companies are no longer allowed to promote their products – it should be the same for Bounty.'
Almost 6,000 babies were delivered at the region's three maternity units in Wrexham, Bodelwyddan and Bangor last year.
Bounty has contacts with several other hospitals in England and Wales.
Its current contract with the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board runs until April 2020.
hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/10/02/new-mothers-blast-health-board-for-allowing-utterly-shameless-sales-reps-on-wards/
Main photo article New mothers have criticised hospital bosses for allowing ‘utterly shameless’ sales reps to take pictures of babies hours after they were born in a ‘cash for access’ arrangement.
Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board received £1,922 from baby merchandise firm Bounty, which has been ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1/2018/10/02/12/4695346-6230787-image-m-3_1538478886016.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий