kgllewellyn

Hello,

I'm wondering if you can help me with this. Me and my partner went for our upfront medical test so that we may submit our eAPR for Express Entry. My medicals didn't raise any issues on the day, however my partner had high blood pressure which was tested twice. It may have been down to nerves and probably a diet containing an excess of salt.

He's been referred to a cardiologist to have ECG exercise and rest, echo and possibly 24 hour ECG monitoring. However it looks like this might cost upwards of £800 to do privately, if we get this done on the NHS we could be looking at a wait of many months, where my ITA will most likely have expired by.

What shall I do in respect to our application, proceed as normal and and provide the eMedical document and wait until what CIC instruct? Or proceed to get him seen by the cardiologist privately before submitting our eAPR?

He's not being medicated for high blood pressure and he hasn't had a history of it previously.

Thanks!

Engineer_abroad

It is all going to come down to how high and whether CIC ask for more information/a consulate report.

My blood pressure was at the higher end of normal/lower end of high when I did my medical, and this was the first time I had ever had high blood pressure when tested. I was asked for no additional information from CIC.

CIC will only respond once you have submitted your whole application not just the medical so you will meet the deadline for the ITA. it usually takes them 2-3 months to process medicals and it is at this point that you will find out if they want further information.

I would get the ball rolling with the NHS as if you can get an appointment in next 2-3 months you may be ok anyway and even if CIC don't ask for further information a baseline ECG (especially 24 hr) is very useful information to have in your medial record.

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!



Was it the panel physician (from your up-front medical) who referred your partner to a cardiologist, or your GP?

If it was the PP then a report from the NHS is not likely to be sufficient (presuming you could actually get one)... usually the PP / CIC require a specialists report. If this is a requirement from the PP / CIC they usually specify which specialist you should use.

Stinkypup

I agree- you also would have to justify the investigation as well under the NHS. I would not do a 24hr ECG but get patient to use a home BP monitor or get them to get a 24 Hour home BP monitor at a real push but these are rarely needed- you can't say that you need it for an immigration issue.

PMM

Hi

1. Probably IRCC will only ask for a Creatinine test to determine you kidney function and or damage. If the Creatinine is within range, that will be it.

kgllewellyn

It was the PP that referred him to a cardiologist but it was mentioned that it could be done either via the Spire Healthcare hospital or the NHS, although the NHS would take longer.

They've advised that they can go through the process of him getting cleared by the cardiologist and submitting the eMedical report, or just submitting the eMedical record as is and see what CIC say. I'm minded to go for the latter as multiple sources are suggesting that he'd just need the Serum Cretanine test at the request of CIC.

On the side he's seeing his GP on Monday and they might be able to prescribe him something to bring the blood pressure down which we can report back to CIC with.

We're hoping that should hopefully cover everything.

Stinkypup

I wouldnt worry too much, high blood pressure is typically fairly easily (and cheaply) controlled -I think that this should be just a temporary blip

Gorbzilla

My panel physician didnt refer me to a cardiologist, but told me to go see my GP. My GP asked me to book in for an ECG and fasting blood tests (serum creatinine for kidney damage, blood sugar for diabetes). I booked it and was done within a few weeks, it was all done by nurses at the GP within a 30 minute slot.

I take it not all GP's have an ECG machines? Several months sounds like a very long time for these basic and quick tests to be done.

I was under the impression that as long as the main medical had been done, the medical could be submitted by the panel physician in the knowledge that other tests have been arranged? That way you dont miss the deadline, but CIC simply wont progress your application until all relevant medical tests are completed? Others please correct me if I'm wrong? For some people 3 months may not be enough time to do all relevant tests...

Either way, best of luck, hopefully nothing serious comes back with regards to your partners ECG. They may end up on BP medication though (not a concern for CIC as this is paid for by the patient).

kgllewellyn

This is what we had back from Spire. They say it's impossible for them to submit anything regarding the eMedical to CIC without the Cardiologist/GP opinion. Has anyone else experienced this?

"We have enquired further regarding your e medical status.
Unfortunately we cannot go any further with your e medical or submit this without the cardiology information. This is on your medical and is a condition and the system will not allow us to over ride this.
Please get in touch with either your NHS GP for a cardiology opinion or contact us for a private cardiology consultation.
We will wait to hear from you regarding this."

We've gotten the ball rolling with the GP. He's due to go in for blood tests next Friday, but there are considerable gaps between appointments, so I'm not sure how much longer it's going to take to get the final opinion from the GP.

Just want to say, thank you to everyone for your advice and support, it's really helpful.

Siouxie

According to the Panel Physicians handbook: Panel Members’ Handbook 2013

Physical Examination:So it does look as though their hands are tied.

kgllewellyn

Hi,

We haven't been provided a IMM5734 referral. We just had a referral note on Spire Healthcare headed paper, and we were advised we could use either a Spire Cardiologist or the NHS.

I have enquired with Spire if it would be possible just for him to get the Serum Creatinine test and whether that would be enough to satisfy the requirements of the eMedical system that will allow them to submit it to CIC.

kgllewellyn

Sorry if I'm unearthing a somewhat old thread, but I thought I would provide an update regarding this.

My other half has had most of the tests now done under the NHS. He has also had a 24-hr blood pressure monitor which had the average of 134/84 (decently below the hypertension definition of 140/90), and is awaiting blood test results. It looks like a case of white coat syndrome at the hospital after all and that for the most part he's pretty healthy (although has changed his diet to bring his bp down further).

Unfortunately it's now the matter of dealing with the red tape, because it looks unlikely that the NHS will refer him to a cardiologist as it would be a waste of public funds if the tests concluded that he does not have hypertension. But the eMedical is requiring a cardologists opinion in order to proceed, so it's looking like we *have* to get this done privately, we are hoping that the cardiologist will see the test results from the NHS and conclude that, 'yep, you're fine' and submit the eMedical and not rinse us for additional tests privately. Unfortunately the hospital hasn't been very helpful in anticipating what will happen, but if anyone else has gone through this ordeal and can share experiences, it would certainly ease our anxiety out of this process.

Thanks again!

Stinkypup

Things seem to be looking good I would have thought. It is fair enough that you pick up the cost of cardiology assessment as it is purely for immigration purposes. I can't think of any tests that could be justified, basics labs, 24 HR BP results review should confirm one of very many people with white coat hypertension. Good luck.