Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Jun 20th 2016, 12:19 pm
#1
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Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Is there any way to speed up treatment when you move between countries?
Mum has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and at some point we will have to move back to the UK. Because she is on the French system, can she be transferred to the UK one or will she have to be retested and wait to be seen in the UK when she returns?
Is there anything we can do to speed up this process?
Mum has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and at some point we will have to move back to the UK. Because she is on the French system, can she be transferred to the UK one or will she have to be retested and wait to be seen in the UK when she returns?
Is there anything we can do to speed up this process?
Jun 20th 2016, 1:46 pm
#2
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Re: Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Well I guess if you get as much as possible in place before you move Mum back, that will smooth the transition. Can one of you go and speak to the GP you intend to register with when you do go back? I have heard that getting appointments with GPs is not easy these days and it might be even harder if you're not actually registered with them, but you could try at least.
Beyond that I don't know, but I guess that every time you change doctor/hospital, regardless of whether it's within the same country or not, they do their own assessment and prescribe their own treatment. I don't think any specialist would simply accept a diagnosis made by somebody else and continue with the treatment prescribed by the other person, after all what if it turns out to be wrong because the other person missed something. I would imagine/hope that doctors have a professional obligation to do a full diagnosis and up to date tests on every new patient they take on before they start treating them. But certainly, try to talk to people and prepare the way as much as you can before Mum arrives back in the UK.
Good luck
Beyond that I don't know, but I guess that every time you change doctor/hospital, regardless of whether it's within the same country or not, they do their own assessment and prescribe their own treatment. I don't think any specialist would simply accept a diagnosis made by somebody else and continue with the treatment prescribed by the other person, after all what if it turns out to be wrong because the other person missed something. I would imagine/hope that doctors have a professional obligation to do a full diagnosis and up to date tests on every new patient they take on before they start treating them. But certainly, try to talk to people and prepare the way as much as you can before Mum arrives back in the UK.
Good luck
Jun 20th 2016, 1:51 pm
#3
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Re: Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Is there any way to speed up treatment when you move between countries?
Mum has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and at some point we will have to move back to the UK. Because she is on the French system, can she be transferred to the UK one or will she have to be retested and wait to be seen in the UK when she returns?
Is there anything we can do to speed up this process?
Mum has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and at some point we will have to move back to the UK. Because she is on the French system, can she be transferred to the UK one or will she have to be retested and wait to be seen in the UK when she returns?
Is there anything we can do to speed up this process?
The process in the UK is multi-level.
The initial contact and assessment will be by her GP who can arrange further assessment by social services for support.
The GP will also arrange a consultant appointment for assessment in a geriatric unit.
These services work in parallel.
Everyone in the UK would like to speed up the process in the NHS but unfortunately it is not designed that way.
I have recently accompanied an elderly relative for such a hospital assessment and the appointments were a wait of several months.
Jun 20th 2016, 3:23 pm
#4
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Re: Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Get English translations of aný French assessments and the GP should accept them. Will your mother be going to a nursing home?
Jun 20th 2016, 3:57 pm
#5
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Re: Moving back to the UK with a long term illness
Thanks for the helpful replies, I have been intending to translate documents where needed to help assist both in the UK and France.
We're not putting mum in a home because she asked not to go in one before she got ill.
We're not putting mum in a home because she asked not to go in one before she got ill.
