BristolUK

The idea that the 'patient' might challenge your diagnosis, especially knowing what they are talking about.

Stinkypup

Emergency care is providable to every bugger on the planet apparently- ie GP and all care-tests and investigations in The A&E - anything else isn't covered.
I did ask what if I wasn't insured and the officer involved said that they would ask the patient to pay, if they didn't, they probably would get the treatment but they would liaise with the Home Office and if they tried to re-enter the UK there would likely be "issues"

I was today annoyed to hear from Snoop that someone from this end advised the insurance company that they had to pay a £6000 guarantee or they wouldn't do the surgery. I have to say that makes me bloody mad. They would do it on someone else not insured but because we had the sense to get insurance they indirectly threatened the company because of the fact that they could get money and threatened to withhold treatment that could prevent serious harm to my health- they wouldn't do it till money was actually in hand-

Word to the wise, make sure you get good health travel insurance wherever you are travelling

I work with them- in this case they were great and I was an easy target- I was in no fit state to argue
Nor had any inclination.

bats

Now you remember to do just what snoops tells you to do.

R I C H

A elderly friend of my parents recently visited South Africa. He fell over and broke his hip and had to be airlifted to a local hospital. They refused to operate until a deposit had been paid from his insurer. It was over a weekend and took 2 days before the deposit was made to the hospital's satisfaction. Fortunately my father's contact details were in his wallet, so he had someone to help out with chasing the insurer and getting the payment issued. Apparently it was a bureaucratic PITA. He was flown back to the UK last week.

Tirytory

Glad to hear you're on the mend! We're off to the UK in two weeks- will chase the hubby up about our health insurance!

caretaker

Glad you got fixed up (great luck having that specialist and his laser). It might not have the visual or auditory appeal of having them exploded with tiny charges inserted on probes while you sit in a bomb-disposal tub full of water but sounds very interesting. In the old days you might have died, and here you didn't even derail your holiday very badly.
My friend was visiting England back in the 70's and she needed a tooth filled; to her surprise there was no charge. They said because she had been born in England NHS covered her.

Jerseygirl

Sorry to hear about your kidney stone problem but glad you've been fixed up and are as good as new now.

Interesting about payment...it never occurred to me that they would pick up on a non active NHS number. I thought all emergency treatment was undertaken for free...perhaps that would have been the case had you not been insured.

4 years ago I had to go the the ER here in Toronto with diverticulitis...we were living in the US at the time. I spent 5 days in hospital...cost approx $40K. Although we had insurance...a little man was sent to accompany hubby to the office to settle the bill before I was discharged. We then had to claim the money back from our insurance company.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday in Blighty.

Siouxie

I go awol for a few days and come back to see I've missed all the excitement!

Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery and that you are able to continue with your holiday in blighty.

scrubbedexpat091

The clinic/urgent care (no real hospital there) in Whistler has a sign at registration that say's they don't direct bill insurance and patients will need to provide payment + doctor fee's+supplies+lab etc at time of service and seek reimbursement from their insurance.

Jerseygirl

In that case they probably have the same here. I was whisked straight through and given morphine...can't say I noticed any signs...can't say I noticed anything to be honest.

dave_j

I'm really pleased to hear that you survived your encounter with the NHS and that you're well under way to getting well again.
The posts from other members highlight the lottery that can befall the unlucky.
Like many others on this site I lived most of my life in the UK and for all of that time rarely gave the NHS a second thought.
It is a measure of the success of the NHS that simply the knowledge that it was there meant that a potential source for worry just never existed, the NHS, with all its faults, truly is a 'health care' system. Some might argue that it succeeds because of the generosity of the workforce and in spite of government budget restrictions.
In many respects I'm an idealist. When I hear politicians exclaim that the first duty of a government is the protection of its citizens and use this argument to fund military spending I would argue that a corollary of this argument should include the health of it's citizens. The NHS has it's critics.. but the reasoning behind it's existance scores high in my view.
Once you introduce the profit incentive into the system, I would argue that it ceases to become truly 'health care' and one of 'health provider'. Now I've no objection to this in principle but it can become obcene 10 Wildly Overinflated Hospital Costs | Reader's Digest
Tales of refusal to treat without cash in hand begger belief and bring the conduct of the profession as a whole into question but I suspect that the hands of the accountant, shareholder and suppliers are more likely to be influencing the decision making.

Tootlepootle

A couple of days away on the Island and you start messing around!! Glad it all went as well as it good. I hope you can enjoy the rest of the trip!!