Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Lateral flow test kits

52 replies

Walkacrossthesand · 29/03/2022 13:31

Hi all, I know lateral flow tests aren't going to be 'free' any more from April (although we're still supposed to test ourselves in certain circumstances I think); I've been trying to order one last pack online for days, but getting the 'no delivery slots' message - has this system shut down too, or am I just unlucky?

OP posts:
HaveANiceFuckingDay · 29/03/2022 14:10

I ordered a test kit and it came yesterday . I've never had any problems ordering one

ElephantandGrasshopper · 30/03/2022 21:45

I've been trying to order for the last few days and getting 'no slots available', either they are being phased out already or too many other people are trying to stock up. I think it may be area dependant as it asks my address before saying there are none available.

enterparentone · 30/03/2022 21:50

Search for LFT stock checkers on Twitter and allow notifications. They have been available twice a day but usually go within about 10 mins!

AnxiousHeffalump · 30/03/2022 21:52

We get several packs delivered a week addressed to people who lived in our house over ten years ago.

IEatChocolateForBreakfast · 30/03/2022 21:52

Yes, they've been starting to phase them out for a couple weeks now I think. Last week I was in the pharmacy getting something and the man in front of us was trying to pick some tests up there. The woman said they hadn't had any for days and they wouldn't be getting any more either.

I know a woman who is so paranoid of covid that she's been stockpiling tests for months. She tests her kids every day!

TypicaIMe · 30/03/2022 21:54

I've not been able to get any for weeks.

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 08:27

I’ve not been able to get any.

My dad is in a care home and likes to come to us on a weekend, it’s the only thing that keeps him going.

With visiting once in the week and the care home asking that we all do a test for the weekend as we have children in school, that’s 7 tests a week.

We don’t have any spare cash so I don’t know what we are going to do going forward.

It’s really unfair for people in care homes.

IEatChocolateForBreakfast · 31/03/2022 09:02

@Wellthisiscrapeh

I’ve not been able to get any.

My dad is in a care home and likes to come to us on a weekend, it’s the only thing that keeps him going.

With visiting once in the week and the care home asking that we all do a test for the weekend as we have children in school, that’s 7 tests a week.

We don’t have any spare cash so I don’t know what we are going to do going forward.

It’s really unfair for people in care homes.

Care homes will still receive them for free. Could you ask them if you could kindly use some of theirs? If it's a smaller independent care home if they hesitate you could perhaps offer a small donation to be used towards something for the residents or staff? (they don't pay for them so it will be free money for them)

www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-covid-19-testing-in-england-from-1-april

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 09:08

@IEatChocolateForBreakfast they have sent out repeated emails of the last month saying please don’t ask them for LFT and that as a private company, they will still be asking people to do them or no entry/taking residents out.

We are either going to have to slash our already tiny food budget to buy tests when we run out (I think we have about a month left), or not see him so much. He sits by the window all week waiting for us, he refuses to do anything else so I don’t know what to do.

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 09:10

And to be fair, he’s already self funding 1,300 a week to be there having sold his house and everything he owned to make sure he had two years of fees - and I can’t afford the tests, let alone donations.

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 09:13

The only thing we can do is get my dad to buy them when we take him out for the day - even though the care home have told people to be careful doing that, when it comes to local authority doing their finance checks when he runs out of self funded money, the manager said she’s already had conversations with LAs who say residents shouldn’t pay for LFT for families to visit them.

But i’ll probably jump of that bridge when I come to it to be honest.

wonkylegs · 31/03/2022 09:24

I've been trying for the past 2 wks but have had the no tests available message each time. I'm in one of the groups (severely immunosuppressed) where tests are still supposed to be available to give access to treatment however we've had no information on how to get them and everyone I've asked just say they don't know either.

Cornettoninja · 31/03/2022 10:43

I’ve stocked up on a couple of boxes. My df is end of life care and if we (3 of us) want to see him we need a negative LFT to see him. He could have anything from a week to a year left. I feel zero guilt in cushioning my costs since I am a taxpayer and it’s unavoidable. I’ll pay when we run out.

I can’t imagine his nursing home is going to throw caution to the wind with the changes, all their residents are CEV. It’s an idea to ask the care home if they’ve enough to provide you with some. It wouldn’t work for us because we’re a threeish hour car ride away so need to test before we set out really!

GormenghastWhat · 31/03/2022 13:46

This is such an awful situation! I am sure that you are not alone in your problem. @Wellthisiscrapeh

So unfair.

Some of us have to have access to the tests or we could kill our loved ones.

So sorry to read about these awful situations. We will have to start buying them but not sure how to find a reputable supplier.

MsMartini · 31/03/2022 13:50

I'm so sorry to hear of these issues, it is so wrong.

For those who can afford to buy them, the Flowflex ones are available from Boots and Superdrug online for just under a tenner for five.

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 13:51

@GormenghastWhat

This is such an awful situation! I am sure that you are not alone in your problem. *@Wellthisiscrapeh*

So unfair.

Some of us have to have access to the tests or we could kill our loved ones.

So sorry to read about these awful situations. We will have to start buying them but not sure how to find a reputable supplier.

The thing is, I think it’s madness because when we take him out at the weekends, he wants to go to very busy places.

Supermarkets, shopping centres, vintage fairs, car boots. Spends hours looking around and speaking to people. All very busy places where he’s far more at risk from all the people he’s in contact with.

He’s tested positive for covid twice during hospital stays last year - not a single symptom each time which he was livid about as he doesn’t want to slowly die of dementia in a home, he was happy the first time as he thought at 86 his number was up.

TreacheryPepper · 31/03/2022 13:55

I managed to order some but I have an NHS email address, and I think that makes a difference.

mistyoak · 31/03/2022 13:57

@Wellthisiscrapeh Really sorry to hear that you’re in this position. This pandemic has been managed really badly and on so many fronts.

I hope you can find a supplier from somewhere. I’m wondering if charities might start doing these to aid visitors.

thelittlestrhino · 31/03/2022 13:59

I ordered some online this morning no problem.

TheHomeEdit · 31/03/2022 14:05

I thought over 75s could still get them for free. Could your dad order them for you to use and visit him? Or are the care home using his allocation for their staff?

ItsSnowJokes · 31/03/2022 14:08

I have been stocking up since December so we have enough to keep us going for a few months. I knew this day would be coming and I want to protect my vulnerable mum as much as possible.

Personally I think it's ridiculous they are scrapping them.

roses2 · 31/03/2022 14:09

I ordered a box yesterday at 7am and they arrived today.

Franklin12 · 31/03/2022 14:21

I know free tests have come to an end but I am going to put a new slant on it. It really had to sometime. The cost was just too great. I know people who have stockpiled these tests or are using them everyday for no good reason.

When something is free some people just take and take spoiling it for the rest of us. I do think there should be free care home tests but not on a table outside the reception area where the last time I visited my parent in the care home the women in front of me snaffled a few and when she spotted that I had seen her she mumbled something about needing them for something else.

PineappleWilson · 31/03/2022 14:25

I was reading online that apparently 8pm is the time each day when a new batch is always released so try then when everyone else is busy trying to submit meter readings online instead

Wellthisiscrapeh · 31/03/2022 14:28

@TheHomeEdit

I thought over 75s could still get them for free. Could your dad order them for you to use and visit him? Or are the care home using his allocation for their staff?
The only way for him to do it would be for me to order them for him - he doesn’t have a device let alone the capacity.

His address is the care home so he couldn’t order them for us.

And I’m sure i’d be accused of breaking rules in some way of I did.

The care home keep repeatedly sending emails saying not to ask them for tests as they can’t help so I am sure lots of families are asking them the same questions. And I’m sorry, but for £1,300 a week, I am sure they could afford a box of tests each week for the residents.

It’s just a shit situation all round.

Like I said, I take him out and he can go and do as he pleases - he lost his last year of health before dementia kicked and he had to go to a care home
being told to stay in his house (he didn’t want to, he didn’t care if he caught covid but he was constantly guilt tripped by his GP and friends). I am not keeping him locked up again.

I’ve had other family members telling me I will kill him by taking him out everywhere he wants - he’d rather be dead than live like he is now anyway, I want him to have little moments of enjoyment but other people think it’s better to “keep him safe” by making him stare at 4 walls for the rest of his life.