Sewing Susan

I hate to sound underhand, but when me and my family have become PR in canada ( in a few months) what is the position on using gps, prescriptions , nhs etc when coming back to the UK..
I will be living at my mums for a few months, and intend to give the new gp that address ( she does not live near where I live at the moment) i have a regular prescription for thyroxine ( thyroid problem). I go to a private dentist at the moment in the uk ( really like them) and my children are registered there for NHS work. We are all having check ups etc before we go, and new glasses at the opticians.

Also we pay into medical fund, you know those that give you money towards spectacles, dental work etc, can i not tell them I am going and come back every 6 months ( which I probably will be doing to see my mum

daft batty

The legal position is that if you arent a GB resident then you are not entitled to accesss th NHS. So you have to lie, this means making sure that your children lie too. There are a couple of moral dilemmas to start with.

Say when you are over visiting and something happens that you need hospital treatment for. How do you explain asking for copies of X-rays and notes when you apparently live locally?

If something catastrophic happened would you want to be repatriated to Canada? Or even a leg or arm break that needed extra space on the plane? You need travel insurance to cope with that.

bazzz

Hah! So it's not dirty immigrants that are stretching the NHS to breaking point, it's sneaky expats trying to get the "best" of both worlds!

Elaine B.

A few years ago we were back in Northern Ireland for a holiday and my little boy had a seizure. We had to get an ambulance to the hospital he ended up staying in hospital for 3 days. He also had a CT scan and an EEG. They also provided me with information to pass on to his doctor in Toronto. I was very upfront and told them we live in Canada and my son was also born here (and we stupidly had no travel/health insurance) but we didn't get charged anything I was very surprised.

daft batty

And they would have been withing their rights to charge you too. So thats why I think you need travel insurance or big pockets

Elaine B.

I totally agree I think we were very lucky. I wouldn't take that chance again

Sewing Susan

I certainly hear what you are saying- I think I would definatley buy travel insurance anyway- belts and braces type of person really- no I was thinking about my reg prescription, opticains for the children, if I have to stay over in the uk for a little while, mum poorly that sort of thing.dental stuff.

daft batty

Try this for an analogy

You have worked at a place for years, and they have always given you free lunches, paper clips, paper etc.

You leave there for another employer who has a different system where it means you have to pay for these things

Would you march back in and expect to have free lunches??

Sewing Susan

Hmmm, when you put it like that.....

ladymoose

I know you like your dentist and optician there - and understand not wanting to go elsewhere - but there are plenty of good ones here too. Like the UK, you may want to try a few before you're happy, but then you should be good to go.

MarkG

Would you expect to get free lunches when you returned to the company after a year-long sabbatical? 'Leaving the company' in your analogy is equivalent to revoking British citizenship, and I don't think anyone would expect to get free NHS treatment after that.

Alberta_Rose

For clarification of whether or not you are entitled to free NHS treatment, you can download the relevant document from this site:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publications...ars/DH_4004148

I think you cannot be "ordinarily resident" in both countries, ie if you have Permanent Residency here in Canada you don't really get the same status in the UK, regardless of your nationality or citizenship.

daft batty

The analogy is not British citizenship but residency. If you return to Britain and intend to set up your permanent residence there then you are eligible for NHS treatment. If you went back to that original employer then you can get free lunches.

I think once the OP is here she wont want to chop and change and will stick with the Canadian system.

Novocastrian

Balderdash.

Quite.


And bazzz has a point too.

Almost Canadian

Of course she would s/he's a typical Brit.

One of the many reasons I am so glad we no longer live there