michali

Probably not! We came back just over two years ago and we had previously been registered at the surgery, but fifteen years before! I just said, we are back to live, do you need to see any papers? The answer was no and we had to fill in new registration forms and that was it! Maybe they really are getting stricter now.

feelbritish

We also came back to same doctors from 15 years before and records were not there but they took copies of our medical records from Canada, asked for a letter with our address on and that was it! Impossible to get appointment though but that is another story!

durham_lad

Similar story here returning after 29 years from the USA in May this year. Very easy to register and pass on our printed records. Not needed a same day appointment yet but hear they are difficult to come by. We were both asked to make an appointment for an initial consultation and to get my prescription moved here. We both received invitations to do a bowel screening a week later (done) then my wife got invited to do a pap smear and mammogram (both done).

michali

Do you get telephone appointments easily? We are so lucky in that my husband gets a lot of advice and treatment over the phone, having had very few actual appointments. I have had three appointments, always the same day. However, the building in which our surgery is located is up for sale so we may not be so lucky when we have to find another practise!

durham_lad

Fortunately we have not been back long enough to need a telephone appointment or a same day appointment. Our friend here tells us that when he is sick enough to want a same day appointment he simply turns up at 8am when the surgery opens and always gets one (as opposed to phoning).

feelbritish

OH tried this morning to make an appointment for next week as they only take up to 2 weeks. The appointments according to this 1 surgery servicing 17 000 patients, get released at midnight on website. He tried at 6.45am until 7.30 and the website kept saying it was down. Then he tried phoning at exactly 8am, engaged all the time, he is still trying. They told one of our neighbours you must queue at 8am to make appointment. Absolutely nonsense and practically no service. Luckily not emergency. If you are really sick you can go down early and they will give you appointment on the day.

Editha

In my experience, nowadays most surgeries have a system for booking non-urgent appointments, online or by phone, with a waiting time of two weeks or so.

But they reserve some appointments each day for pressing cases. This is where there is a big difference between a good practice and a bad one.

At my 90 yr old mum's last surgery, you had to be there at 8.30 a.m. to get an appointment. In theory you had the option of phoning, but in practice they handed out all the appointments to the people in the queue before they started answering the phone.

It wasn't possible for mum to go to the surgery at that time in the morning, because of her disabilities, so either I or my brother had to stay overnight with her, so we could attend the surgery and get the appointment for her, or we had to pay someone to do it, which was just ridiculous.

At the surgery we use now, the emergency appointments are handed out by phone. You can also attend the surgery, but there it makes no difference, and I've never had any difficulty getting an appointment for myself or mum.

durham_lad

I had a non-urgent appointment booked for 3 weeks time but today my wife was at the surgery waiting to see her doctor at 8:40 and she kept hearing reception giving out same day appointments so she went up to the desk and booked an appointment for me today. I saw the doctor this afternoon and it turns out I have an infection requiring antibiotics. Good move on behalf of my wife as we leave for Belgium in a few days on a 2 week holiday.

Hopefully I won't have to put my new EHIC card to the test in Ypres.

Editha

One of the disadvantages of the ubiquitous urgent/non-urgent appointments system is that it is left to the patient to decide whether their problem can wait or not.

Earlier this year I decided I should get some symptoms checked out, but I wasn't feeling ill, so I booked the first non-urgent appointment available with my GP, which was over two weeks in the future. So, having waited a fortnight, I was a little perturbed when my GP told me I might have cancer and booked me in for an emergency biopsy. It turned out to be a false alarm, but from now on, I'll assume my problem is urgent, unless I'm damn sure it isn't.

FloydPalmer

Sorry to drag this thread up but my posting is on a theme resulting from the original thread which incidentally, was sorted quite easily once we took in the biometric card and various documents so thank you for the helpful advice given.

However I wanted to enquire whether a) if the NHS charge paid is only for access to healthcare services or does it extend to covering prescriptions and b) if not then is there any avenues where support with paying for them could be accessed such as what is known a HC1 form?

Thank you

SanDiegogirl

There is a charge for prescriptions in the UK - unless one is pregnant, over 60, under 16, have an exemption certificate for certain ailments/treatments.


The HC1 is for low income workers. Presumably since you earn over 18,600 per annum (otherwise you would not have obtained a spouse visa) you would not be eligible for this benefit.

scot47

In Scorland and Wales all prescriptions are free.

SanDiegogirl

Quite correct - somehow thought this poster was in England though.

(my statement about UK was still incorrect !)

Novocastrian

But the charge is unrelated to the price of the medicines, i.e. a flat rate.

I don't know the rate because I'm a wrinkly.

Editha

The current rate is £8.40 per item, or £29.10 for a three month prepayment certificate, which will cover you for all prescriptions in the three month period. The maximum that anyone need spend in a year, therefore, is £116.40