Hernia not sure what to do.

[HappydaysArehere]

Went in the Summer to see doctor and she diagnosed a hernia in my groin. She suggested that I leave it for a few months (Covid) but has said she will refer me if I wish. I now don’t know what to do. I can’t decide whether to leave it to after Christmas and then ask for a referral or hang on in the hope that things might improve next year. I am 79 and wondering do I risk Covid at the hospital or hold on. Anyone else got a problem like this?

I work in theatres. I had to shield but I legitimately haven’t seen any “routine” surgeries since I went back in August. There’s been an email sent around from work saying they’re potentially cancelling all routine & nonurgent day case surgeries too. Get referred. I suspect based on my own hospital, it’ll be a while till anything gets done.

I'd get the ball rolling. I'm assuming it's causing you issues, considering you went to the GP and, as PP said, it may be a while.

Elective referral/surgical pathways are very different to non-elective in order to ensure that the risk of exposure to covid is as low as possible. While elective operating is going ahead in many places (unlike pp’s experience, where I work we are doing a lot of elective work at the mo) there may be a longer wait to see a surgeon/get surgery if it’s appropriate due to the massive backlog we’ll be chewing through for months/years. It may be worth discussing with your GP how likely they think the hernia is to develop complications that would require emergency admission and surgery (and perhaps a slightly higher risk of covid exposure than in the elective scenario) to help your decision making. Hope that helps.

@Greybeardy

Elective referral/surgical pathways are very different to non-elective in order to ensure that the risk of exposure to covid is as low as possible. While elective operating is going ahead in many places (unlike pp’s experience, where I work we are doing a lot of elective work at the mo) there may be a longer wait to see a surgeon/get surgery if it’s appropriate due to the massive backlog we’ll be chewing through for months/years. It may be worth discussing with your GP how likely they think the hernia is to develop complications that would require emergency admission and surgery (and perhaps a slightly higher risk of covid exposure than in the elective scenario) to help your decision making. Hope that helps.

we're doing surgeries, but they tend to be cancer/post transplant complications sorta surgeries. nothing bog standard "isn't gonna kill you immediately" sorta thing. it makes for slow days because a lot of our patients need critical care & critical care is naff at the moment.

Thank you for your helpful replies. I will see if I can talk to my doctor next week. As you say it’s probably going to take months to be seen so thinking and hoping that a vaccination might be forthcoming by then. Thank you again.