Family-of-four forced to make 200-mile round trip from County Durham to Scotland for covid test after girl, 8, falls ill
A FAMILY-OF-FOUR was forced to make a 200-mile round trip from County Durham to Scotland for a coronavirus test after their girl fell ill. Karen Reynoldson and her family made the “crazy journey” from their home in Burnhope, County Durham, to Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway. During the two-hour journey, the mum, her partner David […]
A FAMILY-OF-FOUR was forced to make a 200-mile round trip from County Durham to Scotland for a coronavirus test after their girl fell ill.
Karen Reynoldson and her family made the “crazy journey” from their home in Burnhope, County Durham, to Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway.
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During the two-hour journey, the mum, her partner David Smith, and their daughters Sofia aged four and eight-year-old Neve found out that slots for testing had become available in Newcastle.
Karen, 39, said: “We were half way to Scotland by then so couldn’t turn back. I was spitting feather.”
She also says that an official at Moffat told her – unofficially – that her family could probably have used the ‘QR codes’ they received to access their tests at any testing station.
The medical secretary in the NHS said: “He said they wouldn’t turn you away. I’ve heard this a couple of time now.
“We must have passed loads of testing stations on the way up there and I can imagine there were lots of people travelling in the opposite direction to us for tests down here.”
It started last weekend when Neve developed mild Covid-19 symptoms.
Karen phoned the NHS 111 health line for advice and a Triage Clinician quickly said the family must self isolate and advised her to book tests for them all.
The mum said: “I rang 119 to book a test and was on hold for an hour and 40 minutes before I got through.”
She was told there was a slot in Hexham about 28 miles away, but she though it was a bit far and was advised to ring again in the morning to see if she could find somewhere nearer.
When she called at about 8.15am she was told that the only slot available was Galashiels in Scotland and the only time she could get was 10.30am – which made the timing too tight.
The slot was even further away at Moffat for 11.30am.
Karen said:”We took that one because it seemed the longer we left it the further away we seemed to be getting.”
The whole family thankfully tested negative in the end.
Karen said: “It was a crazy journey. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”
Karen’s family isn’t the only one who has been forced to make ridiculous journeys for a coronavirus test.
Another family was left furious after they were forced to make an 80-mile round-trip for a Covid-19 test booked online only to find the centre empty with no one working.
One mother had driven 40 miles from Catterick, North Yorkshire to find the testing site deserted.
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She said: “My daughter got a cough and school said we should get a test. We tried for days and nothing happened.
“Today we got our appointment to come here to Sunderland. We came from Catterick.
“There’s nothing here. We are booked from 3.30pm.”