PADI dive medical? In Scotland?

[workwoes123]

This is a really random and complicated question!

Are any of you qualified scuba divers? And have experience of having sports diving medicals done here?

I am currently in Scotland visiting family. I am booked for a diving holiday in Italy starting on 4th August. I live in France but am only back there for 3 days before travelling to Italy. Best laid plans... I caught Covid earlier in July and now it looks like I will need to get medical sign-off to dive. I won't have time to organise this back home in France (and all the Drs are on holiday anyway🙄) so I've been trying to work out if I can get checked over here in Scotland.

The medical forms are created by PADI, sports diving business. The only official dive referees I've been able to find here are UKDMC referees, and they apply much stricter criteria than PADI. According to the UKDMC no-one should be diving within 30 days of recovery from Covid, mild infection or whatever. The PADI criteria OTOH are really wooly, but it looks like they are leaving it up to the Dr to decide whether to sign off for those that have recovered less than 30 days before diving (I will be at 18 days post-recovery, 27 days after testing positive).

The UKDMC referees that I've spoken to won't sign off by the PADI rules / form. Well, one of them is willing to see me but he's in Carlisle so I'd have to drive down there to see him. Is there any other way that I can get a sports diving medical done here in Scotland? The form doesn't insist on using a dive medical specialist, just a GP / general doctor. But - to add the further complication - although I'm Scottish / British, I am not resident here therefore can't just sign up with a Dr here. And I only have a week anyway!

Any experience to share? I think ultimately I'm going to have to cancel my diving, but I'd like to exhaust all the avenues first.

www.uhms.org/images/Recreational-Diving-Medical-Screening-System/forms/Diver_Medical_Participant_Questionnaire_10346_EN_English_2022-02-01.pdf

This is the link to the current form that I have to complete. It doesn't even mention Covid - just refers to "symptoms affecting your lungs / breathing" (which I didn't really have, just a blocked nose and general congestion. The UKDMC Dr agreed that the form is very unclear and pretty much leaves it up to the person completing it to decide if it applies to them or not).

It's a very, very long time since I had a diving medical (was BSAC, not PADI) but I remember getting mine done by a GP who I was not registered with (can't remember why, possibly the club had arranged a special price with him or something). I would just phone a couple of GP practices and ask.

It’s a long time since I’ve dived, but I think in your position I’d probably just tick No for all the questions and then not need a medical.

IME, GPs are reluctant to sign off diving forms because on the whole they know next to nothing about diving. I’d have thought that for a doctor to sign you off as fit to dive they’d want to test your lung function etc first and that’s not going to come free even if you were registered with a UK GP.

I think your best bet would be to try and find a private GP willing to see you and sign the form, or like I said, just tick No on the form considering all you had was a blocked nose.

Maybe a dive centre near to where you’re staying in Scotland could recommend a doctor nearby or offer advice.

Don’t know anything about the covid issue but I’m pretty sure this was the dr I booked i saw (not registered there just had to pay a fee)
www.ukdmc.org/medical-referees/dr-g-russell/

i’m asthmatic so had to complete peak flows pre and post exercise so perhaps it would be similar for post covid