Travelling for work at Christmas

[joanwinifred]

Hi everyone,
I'm travelling to the U.K. on the 23rd from Germany. As of today, those arriving from Germany to the U.K. must self-isolate for 14 days, or if they're travelling after the 15th, they are able to take a private test to get out of the 14 day isolation.
I am travelling back to Germany on the 31st, so will need to take the test 5 days after arrival. I'm just wondering why it is that the test must be private, and you cannot use an NHS test to prove you are negative to get out of the 14 day isolation? Is it just because they want to make extra money?
Thanks in advance if anyone sees this!

@Lilybet1980

And just so you are aware, the UK carries out more tests than Germany, both in absolute and per capita terms. But yeah, the UK is the worst...

Play fair Lilybet1980 Most people living here seem to want to think that! What chance does someone from anywhere else have of seeing things a little more clearly?!?!

@Lilybet1980

And just so you are aware, the UK carries out more tests than Germany, both in absolute and per capita terms. But yeah, the UK is the worst...

We are not doing well with covid testing. For example in the UK the slow turnaround and low isolation rate means we need to test more as we are not stopping transmission chains.

You've swallowed the No.10 propaganda clearly.

I take no pleasure from it, have been impacted myself, but it is what it is.

No 10 propoganda has nothing to do with individual actions, or lack thereof! And many other countries are in a similar position!

Stop believing we are the worst... we aren't. I doubt, in the long term, that any Western country will be much different from any other, bar a legitimate confounding factor. We are just good and bad in different ways form other countries!

I’ve looked at the statistics. They are easy to find. Stop believing the MSM and mumsnet bullshit.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

No it's a different system here. That's a tad disingenuous! UK is in a designated high risk area so there are restrictions, paperwork, quarantine and testing, paid for by the individual, as of this month!

So much the same as here... and most other countries!

You say we don't undertsand! We do... you just see a freebie and want it! Possibly because you erroneously think Germany pays for all tests for all travellers! But you can't have it. NHS tests are only for people with symptoms and no manner of whimpering about that being unfair will change that fact - for the many reasons explained above. Illogical, unfair etc as that may seem! It comes about because we do have a 2-tier system,.

Think about it from our point of view rather than your own... we do what is best for our citizens, just as every other country, including Germany does. And if that means all travellers pay for their own tests then that's what it means! That UK citizens can get a free test if they show symptoms is nothing to do with you, just as how citizens are tested in Germany is nothing to do with us, should we travel there!

I don't want a freebie, at all. My work will pay for my test. I pay tax in the U.K. and I have British citizenship. If I had symptoms, I'd be entitled to get an NHS test. However, the test would not be valid for me to be able to get out of the 14 day quarantine. I'd still need to be tested privately. That's what doesn't make sense. And it is a different system in Germany than in the U.K. The U.K. has also handled the entire thing so poorly. That's the reason it's in such a mess.

[quote notimagain]@joanwinifred

It seems no one actually understands it due to responses here.

Err....I think many of us actually do understand the motives behind the protocol.

I think BefuddledPerson is spot on with the comment that "using resources sensibly are often less important than being seen to prevent non-existent 'abuse' of the system."

The UK MSM would have a field day if they could write headlines such as "foreigners using NHS testing before flying home" or "Fat Cats using NHS testing for free before jetting off on skiing holidays".

Secondly, and in my own defence, I stand by the comment in my first response that private testing provides a revenue stream for somebody..that wasn't said TIC or in jest, it's entirely consistent with how HMG has farmed out much of it's Covid response to the private sector.

If you look at the system from the current UK political POV it all really is easy to understand.[/quote]

Yikes at the foreigner comment.
I simply don't understand how, if you've already had an NHS test, they expect you to have a second private test, when you've already had a negative NHS test.
It just proves how incompetent the U.K. is, and how poorly the entire thing has been handled by the government.

@Lilybet1980

And just so you are aware, the UK carries out more tests than Germany, both in absolute and per capita terms. But yeah, the UK is the worst...

This isn't true at all. I'm sorry you believe this.

It’s pretty obvious why an NHS test wouldn’t be valid. Everyone coming into the country would suddenly present with “symptoms” that have magically come on 5 days after they arrived...

Travel is a choice so you want to travel, you pay for a test. It’s the same for lots of countries.

I don't want a freebie, at all. My work will pay for my test. So pay for the test! It has been explained a few times... You are coing in from German, you probably won't present with symptoms, so, like everyone else pay for the bloody test!

If you do present with symptoms you'll get a free test but, as in Germany, will have to pay for your own quarantine!

And I know it's a different system in Germany, how do you think I know they changed the payment part this month? The basics are much the same, as they are everywhere!

Your can continue wth the "incompetant UK" narrative all you like. Do you not think MN and the UK doesdo that non stop?

@CuriousaboutSamphire

I don't want a freebie, at all. My work will pay for my test. So pay for the test! It has been explained a few times... You are coing in from German, you probably won't present with symptoms, so, like everyone else pay for the bloody test!

If you do present with symptoms you'll get a free test but, as in Germany, will have to pay for your own quarantine!

And I know it's a different system in Germany, how do you think I know they changed the payment part this month? The basics are much the same, as they are everywhere!

Your can continue wth the "incompetant UK" narrative all you like. Do you not think MN and the UK doesdo that non stop?

I... don't need to pay for a test? I'm just saying, if you've already had an NHS test, that should be valid. And most travel being done currently is essential. I work within the healthcare field. Therefore, work will provide a test for me coming back into Germany from the U.K. However, it makes zero sense for people travelling for emergencies and for work, if they have had symptoms, got an NHS test, tested negative, to then have to have the procedure done all over again. Also people don't seem to understand the NHS don't provide "free" anything. You pay your national insurance to use it. I continue to pay national insurance and tax in the U.K. because I wouldn't use the NHS (bar an emergency situation that would be unavoidable) if I didn't. And I will continue to say that the U.K. has been incompetent, because they have and they should be held accountable.

You're still not picking up on the fact that regardless of logic this system has as much to do with internal UK politics and the associated "optics" than about logical use of Healthcare.

Do you think the likes of the Daily Mail would stop for one moment to point out that NHS testing makes sense logistically when instead they can run a headline "People from abroad using NHS free testing", accompanied by with "sad faces" pictures of plucky British residents who couldn't get a test.

Also people don't seem to understand the NHS don't provide "free" anything. You pay your national insurance to use it. I continue to pay national insurance and tax in the U.K. because I wouldn't use the NHS (bar an emergency situation that would be unavoidable) if I didn't.
And I will continue to say that the U.K. has been incompetent, because they have and they should be held accountable. Oh stop!

I am not fucking stupid! We all know the NHS is free at the point of access. That we pay for it via taxation, and it's various outsourcing etc etc.

You seem to be obstinately sticking to what is done best for you, by Germany, your work etc. Well tough! The UK has its own procedures and inconsistencies. As with most other countries it chops and changes as and when and doesn't make sense to everyone all the time.

I suspect you've found a gap in the procedure... there'll be plenty of them, in every country! Or maybe it is deliberate, for monetary or double indemnity purposes!

And I will continue to say that the U.K. has been incompetent, because they have and they should be held accountable. I am just pointing out that your opinion is hardly unique! You aren't uncovering any great heinous crime or inequality!

You've found something that may, or may not, be a relatively minor inconvenience to you!

@joanwinifred what makes you think the statistics you’ve seen are any more valid than the statistics that I’ve seen widely reported?

I think that if you could just get a free one to exempt you from quarantine, they would expect people to make up a symptom and use the free one. By making you pay for one anyway, there's no point in scamming a freebie.

But what you keep insisting is just NOT TRUE. You DO NOT need a private test to be able to leave the country. So the whole argument about whether it should be a private or NHS test is actually totally irrelevant because YOU DON'T NEED EITHER. Not sure what it is about that fact you are failing to grasp.

People have explained repeatedly why giving people a free test if they happen to have a symptom at the right time that then gets them out of paying for a test is not a great idea... I don't understand what you don't understand about this?