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

[MrsBertBibby]

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?

@michaellocust so Covid is more dangerous? Despite the evidence that shows people get it all the time with symptoms no worse than flu ( if they have any symptoms)”

@EmmaH2022

This is appalling They handed out tons of the bloody things to people who didn't need them and now this! So sorry OP.

Yes, it is.

And I can't even bear to think about the test fanatics who've been using them as a thrice-daily hobby, meaning that other people have had none at all.

www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/22/boots-unveils-lateral-flow-test-prices-as-uk-ends-free-test-packs

£5.99 for one test fr now

EU here too - home tests were never valid to give you access to a care home, restaurant etc. It needed to be an official test done by a 3rd party and the authorities payed for 1 test a week.
Home tests were not recognized and so of no practical use whatsoever.

Some of the responses on here are horrific! OP - YANBU.

All those folks saying "so should the taxpayer be paying?" - do you not realise that is what you have been doing for past 26 months?

If you can't keep care home residents safe (if people can't afford tests but need to visit for their or relatives' mental health) then the burden will again fall to "tax payers" as elderly will be ill and admitted to hospital - hence knock on effect to NHS.

@StarCat2020

www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/22/boots-unveils-lateral-flow-test-prices-as-uk-ends-free-test-packs

£5.99 for one test fr now

£5.99 including delivery. Or £17 for 5. Including delivery.

Dropping to £12 for 4 instore from next month.

So it won't be £5.99 a test.

OchonAgusOchonOh

Antigen tests are free to those with symptoms if they are younger than 40 (PCRs for 40 and older) and to all close contacts older than 3.

But that’s only been for last 2/3 months or so, not since March 2020.

do you not realise that is what you have been doing for past 26 months?

Well yeah...

The point is, why should they keep funding it?

@RoastedFerret

Not true. Antigen tests are free to those with symptoms if they are younger than 40 (PCRs for 40 and older) and to all close contacts older than 3.

Ah now, we both know that it was true for the vast majority of the pandemic, maybe the past two months only it hasn't been the case.

I think you are unreasonable.It's a couple of quid, sure you probably have to pay for a bus or petrol to visit too. There are costs involved in everything. That's just life.

The past 4 months

I’d love to see a breakdown of how that £37 billion was spent, I must say.
As a taxpayer I’d be more than happy for tests to be handed out free of charge. Less thrilled by multi-million pound contracts being handed out to firms with no experience.
I don’t think you are being unreasonable at all.

Some people are horrible, the stress of having a relative in a care home at the moment and all the restrictions that entails is hard enough. Then you have to worry if you will be able to afford a mandatory test.

This was my first thought at the announcement.

@NoddyMcdoddy

OchonAgusOchonOh

Antigen tests are free to those with symptoms if they are younger than 40 (PCRs for 40 and older) and to all close contacts older than 3.

But that’s only been for last 2/3 months or so, not since March 2020.

Since last october.

I was answering the post claiming they have never been free in Ireland. I only stated the current state of play.

But yeah, I agree the op is being a bit overly dramatic. Although if she genuinely thought is was £20 per test, rather than for a pack of 7, then I don't blame her.

Apparently the ones the HSE are providing cost between 53c and 70c per test so maybe some form of bulk buying by the care homes and then charging visitors for them if they don't provide their own might be a good idea.

[quote lightisnotwhite]**@michaellocust so Covid is more dangerous? Despite the evidence that shows people get it all the time with symptoms no worse than flu ( if they have any symptoms)”[/quote]
Do you know what covid looks like when it rips through the health and social care sector?

• inability to receive treatment for the thing you are actually sick with
• no rehabilitation
• segregation from all staff and visitors
• isolation
• poor nutrition and hydration support
• having to toilet on commodes in the covid bay
• disrupted care plans
• lack of staff to execute care plans
• lack of specialist staff able to enter the setting to assess and treat you
• closure of the ward or setting you're in - inability to be discharged or leave for outings
• staff caring for you unable to carry out any CPD to improve the care you receive due to closures and lack of staff.
• low staff morale translating in to staff absence and substandard care
• people dying, not because covid is a horrific disease always causing massive symptoms but because it was the last thing their body could handle. I've lost count of the many patients of mine who have caught covid on the ward, shipped to isolation and died.

I could go on and on tbh. It is not in the same league as d&v and colds.

We are one of the few countries who were foolishly handing them out for free and I fully agree it should stop.

If you are poorly, or showing symptoms of any illness you shouldn't visit. This is living with covid as any other illness.

In the US we got 4 tests for each household no matter if 1 or more live there.

*£5.99 including delivery. Or £17 for 5. Including delivery.

Dropping to £12 for 4 instore from next month.

So it won't be £5.99 a test.*

I know but yet again someone is doing well £££ out of this

@DearlyBeloathed

do you not realise that is what you have been doing for past 26 months?

Well yeah...

The point is, why should they keep funding it?

We shouldn’t be funding for everyone and anyone to test but I don’t see why there cannot be free testing so the some of the most vulnerable people in society can exercise their right to family life.

@michaellocust except it’s not anymore?

[quote lightisnotwhite]**@michaellocust except it’s not anymore?[/quote]
Except what isn't what anymore?

I get this, but I popped in to see my gran in a Care home today, coz I was in the area, and I had to wait 30 mins for the test. I can do one at home in about 5 mins, doesn’t making “dropping in” for 20 mins very feasible

But that method relies on people being honest and able / willing to do the test properly.

France has capped the price of a covid test at £1.

Thanks for nothing, Boris. As your wife was once overheard saying to you, “You just don’t care about anything because you’re spoilt.”

Yep. It is shit and Boris is a twat.

But, you won't get much sympathy from the "we just have to live with it" crowd on here. Generally they are people who have absolutely no concept of what it is like to be a vulnerable person or to care for one. It's all "I'm alright Jack"

YANBU, OP and I empathise.

The way that care home residents have been virtually imprisoned for 2 years is absolutely appalling, imo.

I had an elderly relative in a care home last year and it was so difficult visiting. July 19th was heralded as "freedom day". Well it certainly wasn't freedom if your home happened to be a care home facility! All visits had to be pre-booked and were restricted to strictly one hour only. We couldn't visit her in her room, as that was forbidden, so a frail lady in get late 90s was forced either to move out of her comfortable chair in her own room and sit in an uncomfortable wheelchair for 60 minutes - or not to see any visitors.
This was last summer and autumn, when the rest of us were going about our lives almost back to pre-covid norms.

They're free here atm and you can order 1 box of 7 every 72 hours or get a code on your phone to take to your GP or local pharmacy. This will stop on Thursday but over 75s will still get them free as will people classed as vulnerable.