Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To advise my partner with copd to not go to hospital to get an X-ray?

70 replies

Justnot · 27/05/2020 14:40

My partner has mild copd, hay fever and asthma and has had a chest infection he can’t shift for a few weeks ( although I’m not sure if it’s all the conditions not being managed properly) His GP who is generally rubbish, is telling him to go for a chest X ray and I am saying he shouldn’t go without speaking to his chest Dr - who we can’t get hold of. I am saying he is more likely to catch covid than not and shouldn’t go. I have tried to ring the hospital for days before posting here but can’t get through. We will obviously keep trying the hospital but in the meantime is he better staying away from hospital?

OP posts:
reeceormeese · 27/05/2020 15:15

You and your friend (Even if she is a nurse, is she a respiratory nurse? Is she more qualified than a GP?) don’t have better knowledge about his condition and needs than his GP.

The hospital will be taking all precautions necessary, and are seeing a lot less patients at the moment so he will likely be in and out within an hour.

It’s better he goes in now, has the X-Ray, and is then sent home than you leaving it and he deteriorates thus needing to go into a respiratory ward.

femfemlicious · 27/05/2020 15:15

Oh and ive attended 4 hospitals since march. Went into a&e at whittington, got transferrred to royal free renal unit, started dialysis at barnet then transferred to tottenham hale. Its been a real ride.

enjoyingSun · 27/05/2020 15:17

I am saying he is more likely to catch covid than not and shouldn’t go.

We've had to go down to the local hospital unavoidably - it's completly split in two covid and none- apparently no cross over.

I image the hopsital he'd have to go to would be equally aware of possible cross infection and have procedures in place to stop it. I would have also thought the GP would have considered very hard how necessary the x-ray was before sending him for one.

So I think YABU.

Original poster
Justnot · 27/05/2020 15:19

Thanks for those who’ve understood my concerns and have offered considered advice and reassurance -
As I said I will show this thread to him

OP posts:
adelaya · 27/05/2020 15:21

I’m shielding and have been told not to go for bloods but I have been for a ct and was fine

TheGreatWave · 27/05/2020 15:22

As a former nurse, my instincts and training are telling me that the risk of ignoring your partner’s current illness, and him becoming seriously ill are greater than the potential risk of him catching Covid. He needs the x-ray so he can get the right treatment to prevent his chest condition worsening.

This is what it boils down to. He needs to go.

EmergencyPractitioner · 27/05/2020 15:23

He must wash his hands before during and after the visit. Wear a mask if offered. Sit/stand far away from any other patient whilst waiting. In the X-ray room the staff will maintain distance so he won't be touched by anyone.

The risk is very small.

BarbedBloom · 27/05/2020 15:24

I had this issue actually. I am immune suppressed and have severe asthma. Doctor told me to go to hospital for something but my consultant told me not to go unless it was a 999 situation. It is so difficult to know what to do

CelestialSpanking · 27/05/2020 15:24

The thing is it’s not just covid that can kill. The conditions your partner has (asthma copd) are dangerous if left untreated. I understand the concern but I’m not sure that a nurse who happens to be your friend and who doesn’t have your partner’s medical records in front of them knows more than the GP does. That’s not a dig at nurses or anyone else by the way.

MrsRogerLima · 27/05/2020 15:25

@Justnot

I will be showing him this thread, I don’t keep him in a dungeon and tell him what to do.....was trying to get some advice for him
He has had advice, from a medical professional.
HeyBlaby · 27/05/2020 15:27

' I am saying he is more likely to catch covid than not'

Untrue.

Andylion · 27/05/2020 15:27

OP, you have said that you can't get through to the hospital. I would check out their website. It will likely outline the precautions they are taking against covid. It might ease your mind.

MinorArcana · 27/05/2020 15:28

From what I understand, my local hospital is split into 2 zones, one for Covid19 patients and one for patients without Covid19, so someone in your DH’s position shouldn’t be coming into contact with anyone who’s symptomatic.

Also, given the pandemic, his GP is unlikely to have advised your DH to go for an X-ray unless he feels this is essential.

leckford · 27/05/2020 15:28

OH went to our local large hospital for a scan yesterday, the doctor sent him. Hardly anyone there. Very low rate of virus in the area.

Tfoot75 · 27/05/2020 15:29

If your GP is giving an appointment for an x ray then yes I'd go. If gp is saying present at A&E with those symptoms then no I definitely wouldn't. I would hope that hospitals are super cautious in outpatient departments, but think that anyone presenting in A&E with a cough or fever is automatically assumed to have covid until proven otherwise and will probably have a very high chance of catching it.

pippapegga · 27/05/2020 15:30

He's not more likely to get it than not for stepping foot in a hospital. Staff are being exceptionally vigilant at the moment.

Rubyscute · 27/05/2020 15:32

I don't think it's unreasonable not to trust your G.P. and to be worried that you've been given bad advice. Some of them are really crap (mine for example).
But your husband needs to be seen to.
First thing I would've said is try to ring ahead and ask the hospital for advice but you've done that.
Maybe take him to the hospital and see if you can go in ahead (if you're driving, could he wait in the car?), go to reception and explain the situation then go get him when you get the go ahead. If he doesn't have Covid he's vulnerable so I think they would want to be warned ahead of time and if he does, all the more so. I know you said he probably doesn't though).
If you are both extremely vigilant about wearing masks, washing your hands and all of that that'll obviously minimise the risk. If you can, get a proper surgical mask from your G.P. like a previous poster said.
I totally get where you're coming from. I hope everything goes ok for you. Good luck.

tartanbow · 27/05/2020 15:35

I think its concerning that the fear of COVID is causing situations such as these - people being too scared of going to hospital when they need to just in case they catch it. people are so scared they are putting themselves in harm's way and at serious risk of complications from other ailments - this to me is just as dangerous as the threat of the virus. I saw a thread on here not that long ago of a mum questioning whether to take her child who had a probable broken arm to hospital or whether they should patch them up themselves just in case they caught COVID.

I totally get why the stay at home message was pushed but it was pushed so much that logic went completely out the window. I had my smear test the other day and the nurse said how worried she was about people suffering with other things and how much they were slipping under the radar.

these kinds of threads are really worrying

CocoR · 27/05/2020 15:36

I am saying he is more likely to catch covid than not and shouldn’t go.

That's not at all correct. It's very unlikely he'll be exposed to it. Hospitals are completely sectioned off, he won't go near the covid area.

DP has asthma and works in a hospital. He's there every day. Not had covid.

YounghillKang · 27/05/2020 15:43

I think it’s a perfectly reasonable fear, I read recently that a study at Addenbrooks’ showed that a large percentage of staff have Coronavirus but are asymptomatic, and there have been similar results at other hospitals. A friend with a heart condition was recently referred by their GP for an unrelated test, but after checking up found that the tests were part of a box-checking exercise rather than needed. The GP was working to pre-Coronavirus protocols. But this sounds a lot more serious.

Has the GP said what they’re looking for? If it’s something basic then could they treat that as a precaution? If not, then can you check up on the specific hospital? The article below discusses the issue of hospital transmission and it’s clear that some areas are known for poor infection management, where as others have far better records. That might help you decide. YANBU to be concerned but you now have to weigh risks against benefits. The NHS charter promises informed consent as a baseline for patient care, so get as much information as you can to help with the decision. If the visit is soon, and you’re in a part of the country that’s low in current infection rates then that should also help you decide. Is your husband part of a support group for COPD? That might also help you get some answers from people who have more direct experience of precisely this kind of dilemma. I hope that things turn out well for you and your DH.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/fifth-of-patients-with-covid-19-may-have-caught-it-in-hospital-study-finds

Standupthisisnotateaparty · 27/05/2020 15:48

A friend who is a nurse advised against it

Your doctor who is a doctor advised for it!

TimeWastingButFun · 27/05/2020 15:48

If you're not a doctor then I really don't think you should be advising against medical advice he's been given.

Hobnobswantshernameback · 27/05/2020 15:53

Hospitals are only seeing what they absolutely have to face to face
He may not die of covid if he doesn't go but he could potentially die of something simple and treatable

KitchenConfidential · 27/05/2020 15:57

He absolutely does need to go and have a chest x Ray.
A&E departments have various thorough precautions in place to reduce risk of exposure (and I talk from experience having had to rush a family member there last week).
GO!

SeasonFinale · 27/05/2020 16:00

Which hospital has closed because 40% staff has it?

Also the Addenbrookes thing is also fake news.