Patient finds ‘virus chair’ humiliating

A man who went to Southland Hospital with a chest infection says sitting in the foyer on a chair that is allocated for people with Covid-19 type symptoms is humiliating.

The Southern District Health Board says it understands sitting in the chair can cause distress for patients but its key objective at all times was to ensure its patients and community were safe. It plans to make the chair less intrusive.

James Monteith had a negative Covid-19 test 10 days before he presented at Southland Hospital with a chest infection on Sunday night.

Because the symptoms of the infection, which he had been unable to shake, were similar to those of Covid-19, he wore amask and sat on a chair in the hospital’s foyer, which is allocated for people with Covidtype symptoms.

‘‘You basically have a sign saying ‘Stop – don’t come into ER if you have chest issues,’ which I have.

‘‘They just ignored me sitting right by the door with a sign basically saying ‘Sit here if you might have Covid.’ It’s so humiliating.

‘‘Everyone was looking at me as they all read the sign coming in the door. It was like you could see them thinking, ‘Oh, that guy’s got Covid,’ ’cause I was wearing a mask.’’

He rang the bell on several occasions, but no-one came to see him.

‘‘They didn’t even come out and triage me, and I heard the buzzer ring so I know it was going. But no-one came and took my details.’’ After an hour, he left and returned home.

Southern DHB medicine and women’s and children’s health general manager Simon Donlevy said the purpose of the chair was to ensure that anyone suspected of having Covid-19 was kept isolated from other patients. ‘‘We have not had to frequently use the chair, but as you will appreciate, with Covid-19 being so easily transmissible, it is important that we have this physical distancing option readily available.’’

However, the DHB planned to replace the red ribbons that were highlighting the area with less intrusive markers.