Pregnant Mansfield woman says she has been caught in Covid 19 testing "nightmare"

Lisa Sharpe, who is 36-weeks pregnant, said the contradictory results had plunged herself and a family into “distress and panic”, had raised her concerns for her unborn baby as well as other people, and had resulted in her partner losing pay due to having to self isolate and testing.

Lisa told the Chad, that on Thursday, September 24, she had been taken to King’s Mill Hospital after experiencing “severe abdominal pains.”

The 27-year-old, who has worked as a ward hostess at King’s Mill, and her partner Jamie Burbanks are expecting their first child, a daughter, on October 24.

Lisa said: “I was having abdominal problems, and I was in pain, and was taken to King’s Mill’s birthing unit and then to the maternity ward, and then another bay. I stayed in over night.

“On the Friday, they tested me for Coronavirus, as per hospital protocol, and then later that Friday, I was discharged and continued to live my normal life.

“Then, on the Saturday afternoon, me and my mum went off to bingo, in Mansfield. I was looking forward to a day out. My partner and my dad went off to the snooker hall. I then got a call from the hospital to say my Covid 19 test was positive, and that we must go straight home to self isolate. It was a total shock, it was just a horrific ordeal. A nightmare.

“I was extremely distressed, as I have been asymptomatic, and I was concerned for the health and safety of my unborn child. I spent the weekend in isolation with my partner. He had to take time off work and get tested, he is self employed, which affected our household income as he was unable to earn money.

"My mum, Michelle, dad Andrew and Jamie were all worried, so they went online and organised their own Covid tests, which was at Retford on the Sunday, at a drop in centre. All their results later came back on Monday, negative. It made me question my results, as couldn’t understand how with no symptoms I had tested positive.”

Lisa then decided to book herself in online for another test, which was also done at Retford on the Monday.

"This time, my results came back on the Tuesday, negative!

"All the worry, the stress, the impact of it all on my unborn daughter, it had all been for nothing.

"So, I rang King’s Mill to check my first result and to tell them, and they said it was definitely my result, there wasn’t a mix up, and it was positive, and despite the second test, they said I should still isolate as a precaution.

“It worried me to think I had been carted round the hospital and I had also been out and about in Mansfield. I’d like to know how it was possible to get positive and negative tests.”

“I just wanted to share my story with the Chad, to help make others aware of these tests, and I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced anything like this.”

A spokesperson for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust said: “There are known limitations to COVID-19 diagnostic tests. False negative tests can occur if a specimen was not properly obtained or if a patient was tested too early or too late during their infection.

"False positive reports are less common and so if a positive result is given then all precautions must be taken and national government guidance surrounding isolation should be followed.

“We are working hard to keep all of our staff, patients and visitors safe at all times by asking them to wear surgical masks when in the hospital and frequently washing or gelling their hands.

"This helps to stop the virus from spreading and keeps our patients, staff and visitors safe. These precautions ensure that the chances of hospital acquired transmissions of Covid-19 are minimal.”