Daughter sick in Uni, need some advice please

[gemandjule]

Thanks in advance for advice. My daughter has just started Uni in Scotland. We are not fromUK so she has no experience of NHS. She hasn't registered with a GP yet. She tested me this am to say she's feeling sick with a headache and pain over her frontal sinus. She also has nasal congestion and her temp is 37.8 3 hours after paracetamol.
To complicate matters further she has a history of significant frontal sinus infection 3 years ago for which she was an inpatient for 5 days on IV antibiotics and had a total of 3 weeks of antibiotics and steroids so the usual advice of keep taking paracetemol and decongestants and rest may not apply and obviously there is also the Covod issue. I don't know what the testing criteria in Scotland are or how to ho about getting tested if she meets them
So a few questions. How can she get assessed to see if she needs antibiotics when she is not registered with a GP yet? and does anyone know if she meets the testing criteria in Scotland and is so how to get tested?
I know she should be sorting this out herself but she's a long way from home and feeling rotton so no judgement please!

After 6pm she can dial nhs24 on 111 and they can triage and give advice on her symptoms. Generally a temp for COVID is above 38 but if she’s stating a temperature she can access a test through the gov.uk website. She really should register with a local GP though for future concerns.

If it were my daughter I would tell her to ring the GP (there’s generally one on campus I think? There was when I was at uni anyway). Freshers flu is a well known thing & they will be very used to students not having registered yet.

I expect that as she’s got a temperature they will tell her to get a Covid test which she can do online.

I’m sure her uni will have a student support team who can help her to access the medical care that she needs.

I’d tell her to go to a pharmacy and ask to speak to the pharmacist.

She shd follow this link to find and register a gp:

www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/nhs-services/doctors/registering-with-a-gp-practice

Re testing for Covid in Scotland:

www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19/test-and-protect/coronavirus-covid-19-testing

Does her university have a medical centre? Most do and you should be able to ring and get seen, even if you're not registered yet.

Before she starts contacting pharmacies etc she needs to read through her student info or contact student services to find out what the University specific procedure is.

They will be able to help, will have helped foreign national students lots of times before.

Yes, there’s probably a university medical centre. Encourage her to give the doctor a detailed history of her previous sinus trouble and the treatment she needed.

With a high temperature she shouldn’t be leaving her accommodation until she’s sought advice over the phone.

Thanks for the prompt replies. I did wonder about going to the pharmacy but wasn't sure how keen they would be to see someone with a temperature (albeit low grade, but as I say she had taken paracetamol) and respiratory symptoms in the current climate. I am very consious firstly that she is in university accommodation so there are concerns if she is positive around that, and also that she had quite a complicated course the last time she had a sinus infection even if that is all it is.
I have sent her the details for the GP listed on the University website so we'll see how that goes. I'll tell her she can book a COVID test on line herself if necessary.

cross posted with a few. Yes @curiousaboutsamphire and @Muchtoomuchtodo, I did wonder if she should be self isolating until she can get advice

A high temp for Covid is advised at above 38°C, and nasal congestion isn’t a symptom, so it’s very, very unlikely she has it and I would advise her not to waste a test.

Has she had any change to her smell or taste.

She doesn't have a temperature or cough so unless she has a change to taste or smell then she doesn't need a test.

To book a test in scotland if she has symptoms of covid its exactly the same as in england using the uk gov website to do it.

She needs to contact the university medical practice, all students are invited to enroll on arrival so so maybe has filled in the form already. However from symptoms if it were my dd I would suggest paracetamol or ibroprofen plus vicks vapour rub for 48 hours then seek medical help if it's still an issue. It sounds like a typical freshers cold

Phone 111. Probably couldn’t register with a gp anyway cos THEY WONT DUCKIN SEE YOU ANYWAY!!!!! don’t know what the hell theyre doing. They won’t see you, cancel appointment you make online,want to diagnose on a zoom meeting ( yeah, that’s really private and secure isn’t it?) dial 111. They will advise you/her.

If she is in halls she can ask someone to fetch a staff member to come to her room and talk to her so they can discuss her options for getting medical attention. She will also have access to student support services and information for registering with the GP should have been part of her matriculation information.

@emilyfrost. I appretiate a high temp fo COVID purposes is over 38, mu point is that since she checked her temp a couple of hours after paracetemol it may have been higher prior to that.
@Skyechasemarshallontheway as I say I know she doesn't temp above the level for testing at the moment but who knows when the paracetemol wears off, that's why I'm asking now so she knows what to do if necessary. As for the fact that it's the same as England, she's not from England, as I said she's not from the UK at all. Here a temperature and any respiratory symptoms would mean testing so this would include nasal congestion. As I say I am aware the crieria are different in different jurisdictions, hence the questions

@movingonup20 I totally agree that woule be my advice if it were any of my other children but since she went from quite minor headache and congestion to rigors and ? frontal brain abscess in 24 hours a few years ago and since she is in a different country with no one there really to keep and eye on her I'm slow to advice her that it's only a freshers cold although that may well be what it turns out to be. I guess I'd be much happier of she spoke to a doctor in view of her history

She doesn’t need a test; she doesn’t have Covid symptoms. But she should contact the university support centre and get their advice on who to contact for other medical issues.

The university website wiil provide all the health info she needs.

Most universities run their own medical service and as she has no GP she should contact them about her current problem.

She needs to register with an NHS GP practice as soon as possible; because of covid, at the moment Scottish GPs are all doing online registration for new patients so she can get on and do that right away, from her room.

Once she has registered she will be able to tequest a DR  or nurse appointment, most of which are currently being done  either by phone or Whatsapp.  

 Most GP's   will send   prescriptions electronically direct   to a  designated convenient pharmacist, where the patient or a friend can collect the medication.  So when she's picking a GPpractice,  for her own convenience   she should  choose one that serves her nearest pharmacy.

I suffer from repeated sinus infections and have had a ventilation operation. I keep a stock of N-acetyl cysteine capsules, and at the first twinge, down 2 of them. It's available on Amazon, Holland & Barrett or, most expensively from a health food shop.

It's sold as Mucomyst in France, and, like carbocysteine, is a mucolytic ie it splits the mucous into smaller and more liquid fragments so it can drain - especially helpful if, like me, she has narrow sinuses.

@2bazookas, thank you very much, that's very helpful information about online registration and I'll get her to do that straightaway
@emilyfrost, I really do not mean to be argumentitive and I am more worried about her sinuses than COVID myself but I don't fully agree with your reasoning re testing. I just checked the gov.uk site re testing ( thanks a million to whoever told me about that, very useful) and certainly by their criteria if she wanted a test she could get one. She does feel hot to touch, you don't even have to measure your temperature and one symptom is enough to book a test. As I say I really don't think she has COVID but I could see as she is in university accommodation on campus public health might be very keen to ensure she is negative

I’m sorry, this must be very stressful for you and your DD. If you ask MN they will move your thread across to the Scotsnet board where you will get more local advice. As you probably know, the NHS is different in England.

You will get even more accurate advice if you’d like to tell us which city she’s in - you could put it in the title.

thought I had included a screenshot, sorry

She has a temperature. She does qualify for a Covid test but as others have said I'd register with the the university health centre but try calling them first they will be used to dealing with ill students who have not registered yet

They should also be able to advise her as to whether she needs a Covid test.

Thanks @ALLISON, i might ask to get it moved there. I was keen to get some quick responses which was why I put it here but as you say there are different systems between England and Scotland. I an reluctant to mention the Uni in case it causes hysteria ( as I say, I am more worried about her sinuses than COVID) but it's in Edinbugh
@bumblingbovine49. Thanks, I'll get her to try and call the health centre