Anyone had 111 come to their house and test them?

[DigiSam]

Essentially that. We've been self isolating for 6 days now. Initially for baby with a cough then me and partner with fevers.

Baby's isolation could end tomorrow but she still has a cough. I'll ring 111 tomorrow for advice but tbh I'd quite like her/us to be tested. Are they coming out to test people who don't sound like they need hospital?

Baby is happy, well, eating and drinking and cough is just annoying her.

No. 111 cannot arrange testing. Please follow the advice on the 111 online service. Only call them if that's what the online advice tells you to do and be prepared to wait upwards of an hour for your call to be answered.

I don't mean to be unkind, but I'm not sure you're living in the world the rest of us are living in OP. No they won't come and test you.

Absolute no chance. I have been really unwell with suspected cv now on day 18 two calls to 111 and still having to sit it out. No chance of testing!!

A nurse will talk to you if you are considered at risk. You now have to dial 999 for the home visit and even then only if your symptoms progress. Someone will assess you and basically only bring you in if you need A&E at that moment. That is because A&E is now considered a place for you to catch it - they won’t put a baby there unless they are desperate

You don’t get tested unless you need hospital treatment

@DressingGownofDoom Yeah, ta. I dont post on here very often and now i know why. What planet am I living on? My GP said if you ring 111 they arrange testing at home to avoid hospital admissions. I was wondering how they went about this/ if it actually happened. A friend who works in hospital had PHE come to their door in a hazmat suit and test them.

@GrumpyHoonMain thanks, sounds like you know what youre talking about. So 111 used to test people at home but now they've changed policy and only 999 gets home visit if you're going to be admitted?

For the past week they have only been testing people in hospitals

They were testing people with symptoms initially and it was as your GP said they would come to you. Then they said they were contact tracing and testing those around such people but from anecdotal experience of two friends who had it in those days, none of whose colleagues were even tested, I think this was a lot less widespread than we were led to believe by official channels.

Now they're only testing if you need hospital treatment. A woman local to us has it and although the ambulance attended when her breathing was very compromised, as they managed to stabilise her she wasn't admitted and therefore wasn't tested. So she isn't even included in the stats of number of people infected, even though she has it and is very ill.

They won't test you. They're doing fuck all testing really.

@3littlemonkeys82 thanks, but the website is only for people over the age of 5.

@Santaclauswhosthat thanks, clears that up.

@DigiSam not that you're on a different planet but maybe a bit behind those who have been following the news which is understandable when you have a sick DC -I do apologise. I hope everyone in your household feels ok soon.

My DS was tested yesterday but only because they've admitted him. Apparently super strict on only testing inpatients. The results take up to 3 days.
He's 1 and has had a fever for 7 days but has a history of severe infection/ viruses so they've admitted him as a precaution (as the fevers haven't stopped)

111 is a call centre with unqualified people reading from a script.

And don't call 999 for a 'home visit'. It's an emergency service.

Depends who is running 111, they aren't all unqualified reading from a script.

The only way you can get tests without hospital admission is to pay privately. It's not cheap either.

It's really important, now more than ever, that 999 is used only in emergencies. Even though clubs and pubs are closed down, doesn't mean their call-outs have dropped.

All call handlers in 111 call centres are unqualified and reading from a script.

They have access to nurses and Drs by 'phone for advice and to pass on calls but those HCPs are not sitting in the call centre or answering calls.

@NewYearNewJob123 "Baby is happy, well, eating and drinking and cough is just annoying her"

I'm deleting this thread now (If this is possible) you think I'd call 999 when I've said above baby is fine? Mumsnet is a horrible place where 50% of the people give sensible answers and 50% are sanctimonious and treat everyone else like idiots.

It's clear from the answers above they are rationing tests. Which I didn't know and my GP didn't know when I spoke to them on Friday.

No I didn't say 'you'. I meant 'everyone' since a PP said ' a nurse will talk to you if you are considered at risk. You now have to dial 999 for the home visit and even then only if your symptoms progress. Someone will assess you and basically only bring you in if you need A&E at that moment. That is because A&E is now considered a place for you to catch it - they won’t put a baby there unless they are desperate"

Which is incorrect and misleading and could lead to people calling 999 because they think they have CV and want to be tested or have someone come out to 'assess their symptoms' and decide if they need to go to A and E or not.

999 is for life-threatening emergencies only, CV crisis or not.

@DigiSam there are people on here whose main hobby seems to be telling everyone not to call 999, ever. I expect this will ramp up now. You haven't done anything wrong, or said you'll ring 999 for a test, and no one has suggested you should.

I hope you all including baby feel better soon and I also hope that given it hasn't affected you too badly by the sounds of it that this was covid 19 and that's it over for you now. Take care.

Don't call 999 for a home visit. Don't call 999 unless someone is seriously injured or ill.

It's clear from the answers above they are rationing tests. Which I didn't know and my GP didn't know when I spoke to them on Friday.

I'd be seriously unimpressed with that GP. For over a week the advice has been that they will only test you if you're admitted, and to only call 111 if you are really struggling. The wait times when calling 111 are ridiculous and for a GP to be advising someone whose baby is fine except for a cough to call and add to the stress on the system is irresponsible.

They aren’t testing in cases like this because the test isn’t actually reliable enough. Like all tests that are used in medicine it can give false positives and false negatives. The current test for COVID-19 seems to have a low false positive rate (ie if it says you’ve got it, then you’ve got it) but from the data we have it seems that the false negative rate is pretty high. There have been a number of patients who tested negative and then turned out to have it after all, and it’s thought that the test is only picking up about 60-80% of the cases. So given that there’s no real treatment yet that basically means that whichever way the test comes out for you and your family it’s not possible to rule out COVID-19 and you would still need to self-isolate as per the guidance.