I'm just curious as to how many people see a cardiologist before having any tests and how many don't see one until after?
I was diagnosed over the phone by a doctor with suspected angina in November and given aspirin and Omeprazole (was already on Propranolol for migraine prevention) and referred to the hospital's cardiac unit. I had a phone call from a nurse who took down details and that's been it. I have had an x-ray which apparently was 'fine' and have an echo tomorrow, no idea on the angio but was told 6-9 months.
Is it unusually for me to not have spoken to anyone other than a nurse yet? I've not even had a chat with a doctor about it, one phoned to tell me I needed to add Atorvastatin for high cholesterol but that was it. Everything I know I've read either here or on the internet. My check-up blood test results will be in tomorrow so I'll phone for those but for some reason in our new practice we can't ask for a specific doctor so I'm reluctant to chat with anyone there as I've had a couple of bad ones in the past.
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Getting tests done before seeing a Cardio is how it goes normally, appts with Cardio Consultants are like gold dust in many hospitals so they save them for the ones who really need them, until you have some results under your belt I wouldn't stress to much, it all takes a long time especially now !
I was just curious as I've been reading posts with people talking about chatting with their cardiologist before initial tests. I'm more than happy to wait if it means my problems are not too bad! 😉
Read your info with interest saw a cardio consultant for the first time in March and have a further appointment with him in late May regarding the results of my MRI. Scan ..
My husband was referred to the heart failure clinic (urgently!) at our local hospital back in December. When he chased up this appointment, at the end of Jan, he was told there were no cardiology appointments at present because staff had been redeployed due to COVID, & that they would review the situation at the end of Feb. He eventually had an echo at the end of last month. He now has to wait until May for results. So much for an urgent referral! Meanwhile he’s left feeling lousy & worried until he gets to see/speak to a cardiologist.
It's a worry isn't it, when you aren't sure what's going on and things are moving slowly. I have done a bit of chasing but then feel guilty as I know they are busy catching up but even being told you have an appointment in 6 months time is at least something. I guess I'm lucky in that I feel ok but it must be stressful when you don't and don't seem to be getting anywhere quickly.
Best of luck to your husband too. Debbie
I think you are experiencing the ‘Covid NHS’. Things are not happening as they should happen due to massive non-Covid backlogs.
Yes, I'm having to wait 6-9 months for an angio due to them having to catch up which is fine, I was just curious if it was standard procedure to have tests before speaking to a cardiologist but as you say, in these times things are different.
I think we all understand the reasons for the delays don't we but it can be stressful when it's our health at risk and we can't have a proper face to face talk with an expert in the field.
I assume that the doc who diagnosed you initially was a GP. An echo can give a good idea of how the heart looks at rest. An echo can identify poor blood flow to the heart and any damage to the heart muscle it has caused. Depending on the results, you might be given more medication to improve the blood flow in the coronary arteries etc.
Or be referred for an angiogram which is the gold standard of coronary artery diagnosis. That referral would be done via a cardiologist who might want to do a stress echo or MRI before an angiogram. (Angiograms do have some risk and you would not want to do one is a positive diagnosis can be done non invasively.
Yes it's true cardiologist appointments are very hard to come by . Some cardiologists had to suspend their day job to deal with Covid, and it has created a backlog.
Yes it was a phone call from a doctor after I described the pain I was having.
I've already had an x-ray which I was told was 'OK' but not quite sure exactly what that means, I'm guessing it shows different things to an echo.I've been told I'm down for an angio but it will take a while to get an appointment which I'm happy to wait for. I'd prefer to do any other tests first though if possible so it's good to know what there is.
Waiting for NHS action, has become even more of a worry recently. I had already moved my care from a local General Hospital to a much bigger Hospital with a large Cardiac Unit, because I was sick of waiting for appts, tests and procedures (once blocking a local hospital bed for three weeks just waiting). It cut down my wait for many tests, though it did add a bit on journey time, But you can see here, lots of people report much longer waits for Cardiologist appts, since Covid.
Also, there already seemed to be a trend to greater delegation from Cardiologists to Specialist Nurses, for specific issues. So seeing an NHS Cardiologist I think is reserved for just the most complex cases.
The last trend during Covid is consultations on-line and by phone. Looks like many of these will continue. Perhaps we just have to get used to less face-to-face Cardio Appts.
I spoke to a cardiologist via phone last March when I first had the pain but as it seemed a one off he said I didn't need seeing. I guess I should view it as a good thing that it's felt by ...... whoever has seen my results ..... that I don't need to see one and going from the 'good' results of my x-ray and echo I'm happy to not see one!I think a lot of appointments will stay as phone calls.
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