Corona test - had to do it myself!?!

[goingtosleep]

I had to get the test done a couple of days ago, and was surprised that i had to do it myself (drive through test centre in Scotland) and that I wasn't given any time to read the instructions that were thrown in the car with the test and a (loose!) tissue to blow my nose in first.
They seemed more concerned about making sure my dashcam was taken down than how to actually do the test.
I was under the impression that someone was going to swab my throat and nose and was prepared for the gag reflex etc, but was not prepared that i had to do it myself and most importantly I don't feel confident at all that i did a good job.
Test came back negative as I expected but are they really getting true results with this system? Is it like that everywhere in the UK?
Family member who is a doctor in another European country was very surprised and in their opinion people would not be able to reliably swab themselves.

The UK seems to be an outlier in relying on self-administered tests, including home test kits with their complicated instructions and barcode scanning. I presume it’s because we don’t have the public health capacity to use actual testing teams.

Apparently they’ve conducted studies to show that self-swabbing is no less reliable, however...

We have done the same. Once we were given the kit we were left alone so plenty of time to absorb the instructions. I thought they were very clear.

I've been saying this for a while now. Everyone I know who has one done to them has said it's a short, necessary but unpleasant experience and they don't think they could have gone that far in themselves.

So does that mean either, the medical staff are being over enthusiastic or many of the self administered test risk false negatives?

Why did they need the dash cam removing?

Yes we did ours ourselves, they don't do it for you. They explained how to do it quite clearly though, sorry you didn't get the same.

I think they can tell if you don't get an adequate sample as DS had to go twice (same as you OP, drive through one in Scotland though we parked up to do it so weren't rushed) after his first one came back inconclusive--I made sure he was very thorough the second time around!

The drive through test meant driving through several stop points where i had to call a number (the person was holding up a board with a phone number on it, each time a different number) , at stop one they asked me to remove dashcam, i had some sort of a blank moment and couldn't figure out how to, I managed to turn it around and switch it off, they were ok with that, but then further on at stop 3 they said i had to take it down completely so then somehow my brain started functioning again and I managed to unplug and take it down.
There was no time to read the instructions or even notice that there were instructions.
They guy on the phone standing outside the car at stop 4 told me how to do the throat part then just said to swab both nostrils (didn't say how long or how deep, so obviously I didn't torture myself at all)

DH & I had one and they did it for us, a colleague had his at the same drive through and had to do it himself. Then DH had another one prior to a procedure and had to do it himself.
I think it just depends on the staff at the time near us as I’ve heard a mix from other friends.

We had same as you op, but we were given plenty of time to digest the instructions in the car and not hurried along etc

I had to do it myself too and really struggled to snap the top off the stick. Was told to bring tissues sanitizer etc.

Having done 2 tests myself and had one done by the staff at the drive- through centre, I am totally confident I carried the procedure out correctly. I was also given plenty of time and given the opportunity to query anything I wasn't clear about.

Are you ok to get out of the car? I mean, if the test is for a toddler and they are strapped in the back in their car seat, you’d have to be able to get out and open the back passenger door to do the test?

They given you instructions in your bag with your next.

You're perfectly capable of saying "I just want to read these first" or double check what you're doing.

I had to do mine myself, with instructions from lovely Royal Navy officers. I had to phone a number they held up on a card and when I swabbed my throat he said, 'I'm going to turn round to give you some privacy,' but he still had the phone to his ear, so he could hear me gagging. Then I had to do the whole thing again, as I had a tiny spot of blood from my nose on it. I'm convinced I did it wrong and got too much saliva on it, as it touched my tongue on the way out. I also could not snap the bloody stick and made a right meal of it. I'm sure he thought I was weak and silly. It was brilliantly organised, unsurprisingly!

You can’t leave tour car. You need to climb into the back seat to test children.

Likewise @Crunched

when i booked it made it clear you did it yourself. we watched the How to video
i went with my two dd's
my dd in the back tried to come into the front to do the test in front of the mirror and was not allowed to get out of the car, she was shouted at!

I did mine (England) and found the instructions clear and straightforward. The confirmation email had links to a video that I watched beforehand that helped a lot.
Same system as described, different checkpoints and people with cards/a phone number to call. Once the test kit was posted through a window though we had to park up so had length of time to read the instructions and do the test without being hurried. Then we were directed to the next check point to ‘hand in’ the test.

Drive through in England and it was done for me. I wouldn't have done it as they did if diy.

When we did it the instructions couldn’t have been more simple, 10-15 secs in the throat and the same in a nostril the pop it back in the tube and outer bag. The only tricky bit was snapping the stick.

It was very clear when I did mine. You got given the test stuff and then drove into a parking space to do the test. There was no time limit, you just had to flash your hazards when you were done and someone came over to watch you label everything up and seal it in the bag.

“ You can’t leave tour car. You need to climb into the back seat to test children.”

Not true
This would have been impossible with my toddler’s rear facing seat. I had to get out, and they directed me to another part of the site where I could get out

I have baby and toddler seats in the back. Nowhere for an adult to sit and effectively do the swab. I had to get out. The staff weren’t fazed, just wanted me further away from others