Downton Gabby

Hello,

I wonder if anyone can explain what the options are in the UK for healthcare for residents. I've read a fair amount about the NHS and also watched the youtube video that was on the thread regarding the future of the NHS that was rather disconcerting.

I'd be interested to know if many people there opt to purchase private insurance to help avoid things like long waiting times and get better care in general. If so, is it an expensive proposition, and how does any or all of this compare to the US system?

Are there better areas in England and Scotland for healthcare in terms of access to GP's, emergency services and good dentists?

Also, what are the differences between healthcare in England and Scotland?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Grayling

Take videos and these reports with a big pinch of salt.

Care is rarely better in the private sector in many countries.

I recently returned to the UK and have no problems getting GP appointments or dental care......there are also NHS dentists available here.

My wife had an appointment with a GP with her new doctor within an hour and that was before she had even registered.

I have been referred to a specialist....that was last Thursday....on Saturday I recieved an appointment for 3 weeks time.....you would hardly beat that going privately.

There are a lot of people around peddling their own agenda.

robin1234

I don't have personal experience of private health insurance in the UK, but my understanding of it is that it is very reasonably priced compared to the U.S. I think the main reason is that plans are designed as add-ons or enhancements to the comprehensive care you get anyway from the NHS, as a UK resident.

I recently registered at one of two practices in this small town in rural Norfolk. In general, it seems to be run a lot like the practice I frequent in small town, rural New York. So far, no waiting times at all - my new patient consultation, and a follow up, were set a week hence, and, chatting to folks in the waiting room, if you phone before 10am and convince them that you wish to see someone today, you'll get an appointment today. I'm afraid a "same day" appointment at my New York practice was never a possibility, since that practice was always chronically overbooked. I think waiting times can be a problem anywhere - in rural northern New York State, I experienced waiting times of two or three months, and a two hundred mile drive, to see various specialists. But that's probably just a function of living in an impoverished rural area where specialists aren't interested in setting up shop!

So, my experience was moving from a poor area of rural America where medical services are sparse, to a relatively prosperous area of the UK where doctors seem to have spare capacity still...

In practice, I'd say register with the doctor here, test out the services, and only start investigating private provision if you are dissatisfied with the NHS services.

Editha

BUPA is the main insurer. I had BUPA insurance for years, but I never made a claim and in the end I decided it was a waste of money.

One disadvantage of health insurance in the UK is that existing conditions are usually excluded.

On the one hand, insurance might get you that life saving operation a month or two earlier than on the NHS. On the other hand, you might never make a claim.

The BUPA site is here. They won't insure you until you have been resident in the UK for six months.

michali

So far we have been very impressed with NHS care in London. We can get same day appointments and as cancer survivors, quick referrals if there is concern.

I had BUPA cover while abroad and it was brilliant and VERY expensive! So when I was returning to the UK I decided to keep it for awhile, transferring to a cheaper UK plan. But the plan was limited in that I still had to either pay for initial consultant visits or go through my GP anyway. It would have only been when I was diagnosed or hospitalized that BUPA cover would kick in. After a year I cancelled it and they were not happy to let me go!

I was able to sign up for a dentist as an NHS patient but she kept pressing me to have private dental work done! Every time I knew something could be done under the NHS she would make an excuse that it would better to have it done privately, with her! So I left her and went to a private dentist who is wonderful. I am sure though that I could have found a better NHS dentist had I researched further.

You can see reviews of NHS health centres and dentists online which can be helpful. Our health centre has a good website and I felt that it reflected the practice itself and so far, it does!

Editha

For fun I checked out how much BUPA cover would cost me now. A 'comprehensive' policy for myself and my husband, both in our early sixties, would cost a little over £200 a month. If I took out the policy, I'd still be using an NHS GP, but if I needed to see a consultant, I could choose to go privately.

The catch is that a consultant's fee is usually no more than a couple of hundred pounds, so the BUPA policy only pays for itself if you need expensive tests or an operation, which you might have got quickly on the NHS anyway.

michali

The point the BUPA rep was making to me in trying to persuade me to stay was that I might have access to more expensive medications or treatments when covered by BUPA. This is a good point but I decided to take the risk! My monthly premium was £187 for me alone, so not excessive at all. When I was abroad I paid almost £1000 per month! But that covered every penny of treatment I received.

Editha

Hmmm... I think I'd like to read the small print under that claim. Are BUPA paying for Sovaldi yet, I wonder? It's the most up to date approved drug for Hepatitis C, with a success rate of 90%, compared with 50% for the older treatments. But it costs around £35,000 a course and it has been approved for a couple of years now. The last I heard, BUPA were still refusing to pay for it, but that might have changed.

I actually think that £100 a month is a lot to pay for what is just back-up insurance for the NHS.

Downton Gabby

Thanks for all this. I still have questions though...

- Is BUPA the only private insurer?

-Are pre-existing conditions never covered?

- Are the "horror stories" I've seen and read about regarding people waiting and suffering for long periods of time unusual cases, or are they fairly common?

- Why would an NHS dentist try to convince patients to go private? Does that mean they give better treatment to you if you have private insurance? If so, that sounds awful.

- Are ambulance services better in some areas? What about access to an emergency room? I have 6 hospitals within a reasonable distance from my home, as well as several Urgent Aid centers here in the Midwest.

- Scotland vs England ? Are there differences in all these areas? I believe that prescriptions are free in Scotland, for example.

robin1234

BUPA are one of several.
Health Insurance Compare - The UK's Leading Independent Health Insurance Specialist

Editha

I've only used BUPA, but my parents were members of another scheme, I can't remember with who, but it had fairly limited cover. They were pleased with it, but all they ever used it for was private consultants and I worked out that they would have spent less just paying the consultant fees up front.

Certainly, you should shop around and look carefully at what each policy offers. BUPA are just the longest established and probably the most popular for people who want comprehensive cover.

You could ask a broker to find you cover for pre-existing and chronic conditions, but you'd end up paying a fortune for the cover.

I don't know any horror stories. Read this page on NHS waiting times.

Editha

On dentistry, over the last 40 years I've had both NHS and private dentistry and switched between the two. NHS dental care does not cover all procedures and dentists don't like doing it because they get paid less. But it doesn't mean that NHS work is sub-standard.

I'm not sure how it works exactly, but most dentists seem to limit the number of NHS patients they take on. They will usually, in my experience, offer NHS care to children and often to old-age pensioners, but may refuse to take on patients of working age on the NHS.

For years my mother and I used the same dentist. She went NHS and I went private but we were both happy with our treatment.

When I came back to the UK last year, the first dentist I signed up took me on as an NHS patient. I didn't realise until I went to pay the bill after my first check up. I wasn't very impressed by the practice. The dentist was very nice but she didn't speak good English and we had difficulty communicating, plus the equipment didn't look state of the art. But, I don't think this had anything to do with the fact I'd been taken on as an NHS patient, because the surgery was one of a big chain that does a lot of private work too.

I asked around, and was recommended another dentist practice. When I rang them, they said that all their NHS places were full, but they could take me on as a private patient, which is what I did. My husband has signed on with them as well.

Editha

Are ambulance services better in some areas?

I don't know. Probably, but I don't think there is a league table. At least in the UK, if you are run down by a car the ambulance men don't go through your pockets to see if you have Blue Cross cover, as they do in Canada.

There have been some horror stories about people waiting too long for an ambulance, but these tend to be isolated incidents, not the general rule.

It probably is worth checking out A&E in the area you want to move to, because it is one of the areas where the NHS is under most stress (but private health insurance won't help).

But statistics can be misleading. I've had to attend A&E twice in the last year. My local hospital is Barnstaple which is supposed to be in crisis. But I was seen quickly on both occasions and got excellent care.

Prescriptions are free in Scotland. Apart from that you'd have difficulty finding a reliable comparison between NHS Scotland and NHS England. It is just too political.

themajor

As a point of interest; When I was in the UK and wanted to see a Consultant-waiting list 3 month. I paid to have a consultation to see him in the NHS Hospital (via his secretary) and saw him 3 days later. My OP was done one week later on the NHS.
There are always ways to beat the system.

Editha

I've done likewise. Paying for a private consult used to be a quick and cheap way of jumping the queue for an operation.

But I don't think that still works, or not everywhere anyway. Consultants don't have the power they used to have. My mum saw a consultant privately a couple of years ago, because she needed an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome. But she ended up waiting just as long for the operation as if she'd saved her money.