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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I shouldn't have to pay to see my mum

352 replies

MrsBertBibby · 22/02/2022 19:15

Just that. "Freedom" is no such thing for care home residents. Imprisoned and deprived of family and now, if we want to visit, we must shell out £20 for a test.

Is it unreasonable to call this government absolute sick psychopaths?

OP posts:
mudgetastic · 22/02/2022 19:34

The government could pay but won't

Giving people some hard choices

The government could rebalance the gap between rich and poor so that poorer people would feel able to afford the tests

How the government raises taxes and what they spend then on is their choice

Shoxfordian · 22/02/2022 19:35

Yabu

Order a few packs now whilst they’re still free

OfstedOffred · 22/02/2022 19:35

Is it a government requirement for you to test before visiting a care home

Bakewelltart987 · 22/02/2022 19:35

@UserWithNoUserName

I think if the care home want you to test, they should provide a cheaper option.

The care home wanting to protect the vulnerable should not have to pay.
Surely if you had family in a care home you would want them todo everything possible to keep them safe.

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 22/02/2022 19:35

The government provided free tests for 2 years, it cannot be free forever. They're giving advance notice for people before they have to pay.

TyrannosaurusRegina · 22/02/2022 19:36

@Porfre

Why are the care home.still asking for tests?
To keep staff and residents as safe as possible.
ilovesooty · 22/02/2022 19:38

They only cost just over £1 each in France. I don't see why they need to cost any more than that here.

jennywasafriendofmrbrightside · 22/02/2022 19:42

Who should pay for your test?

kitcat15 · 22/02/2022 19:42

Stock pile a few from government website....and get rest of your family to as well .... although people will wade in and tell you its morally wrong🙄 ( except its not ....so do it....there's none just now I just tried...but if you try just after midnight you are more likely to get some)

DearlyBeloathed · 22/02/2022 19:42

Is it unreasonable to call this government absolute sick psychopaths?

Are the governments in all other countries where tests have never been free 'sick psychopaths' too? Or just ours?

jennywasafriendofmrbrightside · 22/02/2022 19:44

@Feelinglow27

Wow Just wow. Some of the opinions on here are disgusting.
Why?
Janesmom · 22/02/2022 19:44

Sadly there are many costs we all have to cover, such as travelling to see family in care. I don’t see how paying for a LFT is any different.

Sobeyondthehills · 22/02/2022 19:44

With any other government, I might agree that they are trying to curb the cost of covid spending down.

However with this one I assume one of them or one of their mates, is going to get richer off it

Sharrowgirl · 22/02/2022 19:45

The taxpayer has paid for them for long enough.

GirlInACountrySong · 22/02/2022 19:45

@ClariceQuiff

did you buy your own masks?

This isn't a valid comparison.

You could make your own masks. If you used old clothes, the only cost was thread and elastic if you didn't already have those things in the house. My masks didn't cost me a penny.

Even if you're unable to do very basic sewing, you could buy reusable masks very cheaply in Lidl, Tesco, etc.

You can't make your own LFTs.

You can't reuse a LFT.

they weren't masks....i wore one 10 hours a day....bit of old material and a bit of elastic is just not good enough

cost of proper masks add up

valid comparison when a test works out at a couple of quid and used far far less

Lou98 · 22/02/2022 19:46

@Shoxfordian

Yabu

Order a few packs now whilst they’re still free

That's exactly why they can't keep providing them for free though - people stockpiling them when they don't need them

Sweetpea1532 · 22/02/2022 19:47

US here...still waiting for free tests that Biden promised every household in December....
Testing here was very difficult...the testing facilities were closed and tests at the pharmacy were all sold out or exorbitantly priced...no wonder our numbers skyrocketed...our numbers are rising again

Hbh17 · 22/02/2022 19:47

Taxpayers (ie all of us) have been paying for the crazily high numbers of test- we can't keep on doing it, and it needs to stop. Most countries have charged for them throughout the pandemic.
Maybe lobby the care home to persuade them that testing is no longer needed?

Applesonthelawn · 22/02/2022 19:48

Someone's got to pay for it. Now it's you rather than everyone. There are far greater injustices than this.

Theworkhouse · 22/02/2022 19:48

I have to get a train, and a bus to visit my Dad in a care home, it costs quite a lot. Do you count that as having to pay to visit him.

Like it or not Covid has changed how we live our lives for the time being. The government can't pay forever. We are just going to have to accept some changes to protect the vulnerable.

AccountCreateUsername · 22/02/2022 19:49

@SockFluffInTheBath

Is it unreasonable to call this government absolute sick psychopaths?

Nope, YANBU but paying for LFTs ‘post’-Covid doesn’t even make the top 20 reasons they’re sick psychopaths.

Agreed! Many, many reasons
OnlyFoolsnMothers · 22/02/2022 19:51

Can’t get worked up by this - the cost and plastic waste has been staggering.

2YearsOfWastedTime · 22/02/2022 19:53

@Hbh17

‘Maybe lobby the care home to persuade them that testing is no longer needed?’

Really? Really?
A care home, no longer needing visitors to do a covid test?
Knowing just how many care home residents have died ?

Tell me your joking

Steelesauce · 22/02/2022 19:55

Will the care home not provide the tests? They will still be getting them from the government

WonderfulYou · 22/02/2022 19:56

They should be cheaper and I believe they probably could be - if you’re doing them every day then it’s going to add up.

But someone has to pay for them and I would absolutely want to know if I had it so I didn’t pass it on to my vulnerable loved one.

So I can’t see any other option.