EnglishmanInMICHIGAN

I am absolutely amazed I find myself sitting here in the UK, and about to share with you what I will.

I have lived in the USA since February 2006. My wife is American, and we have a gorgeous home on a beautiful remote Island in Michigan. Paradise just about sums it up.

Unfortunately I have returned to the UK under what can only be described as bitter sweet circumstances. Sweet because my 33 year old son just got married here in the UK on the 21st of August, but bitter because I must undergo spinal surgery before my ability to walk is gone.
Being a BRITISH citizen I fully expected to return home to the UK, go to my doctor with all my x-rays, MRI scans and full written documentation and reports from the orthopedic surgeons in the USA, and then be referred to an orthopedic surgeon.
Are you kidding me??????
I was staying temporarily with my father in Knutsford, so I did a temporary visitors registration, expecting no problems.
How wrong I was.
First doctors appointment....That will be £40:00 please.
I walk in and see the doctor as a PRIVATE patient, she dishes out the necessary pain killing prescription and I head off for the pharmacy. Pass the prescription to the pharmacists assistant. She takes it to the Pharmacist, who peeks round the corner at me like I was something from outer space. "What are these drugs for sir"?? Instantly I sense difficulty. I said..... Why the question please? The doctor just prescribed them for my spinal injury. "You realise these are a "Class A" drug don't you??
I replied.... Whether they are a class A or a class Z is totally irrelevant to me ma'am, they are the same drugs I had back in the USA and the same drug prescribed here by the doctor. I didn't realise that an inquisition was now part of having a prescription administered.
The pharmacist then said.... "Well the doctor has prescribed this on the wrong prescription form anyway, but when you come back with the correct prescription, that will be £130:48!!!
You have got to be kidding me!!!!

I knew that I still was registered with my old doctor in the North West of England so I quite simply phoned my old doctor to confirm that I was still registered and asked if they would transfer my medical records to my final destination in the south of England, once they had been requested by my new doctor.
NO PROBLEM SIR!!!
So..... I made an appointment with my new doctor in the south of England, registered, went and saw the doctor, had the prescription made out for the same class A drug, went to the pharmacy and had the exact same medication administered...(NO QUESTIONS ASKED).
I realised I was back in England folks.
So much red tape, hurdles to jump and oceans to swim to achieve the simplest of things.
Back at home in the USA, I have never gone through such garbage in all of my five years there, as I encountered in my first days back here in the UK.
What is absolutely amazing to me is this....... I could be an illegal immigrant in the UK, attend a doctor without fear of being asked to pay a dime, FREE PRESCRIPTIONS, hand outs galore from the Department of Health and Social Security, FREE HOUSING and all the allowances that go with it, and here I am as a BRITISH CITIZEN, having paid thousands of pounds into the National Health Care system and the Social Security system, and They have the audacity to ask me to PAY!!!!

I am so so glad that I have a home back in the USA, where I am treated BETTER as a British Citizen, than I am in my country of birth.
How sick is that little scenario folks.
I could go on with other events which have unfolded over the last three weeks, but that story of itself, is possibly enough to HELP PEOPLE RETHINK ABOUT RETURNING TO THE UK IF YOU DON'T REALLY NEED TO.
My advice if you are in the USA and want to come home.... If you think the grass is greener in the UK folks, YOU ARE SERIOUSLY WRONG...... stay where you are, other than to come for a visit.
I am a former police officer / military police officer too in the UK, and it is the best thing I ever did leaving this hole. I cannot wait to be back home in the States with my darling wife and American family members.
How sad to think that this ONCE UPON A TIME amazing land, thinks more highly of total foreigners, than it does of its own people, who helped give this nation the foundation and structure it ONCE adhered to.
It should no longer be "God save our gracious Queen" but GOD SAVE THIS LAND!!!
Is already too late I ask myself.
EJH

roaringmouse

It seems you're a resident of the US, and intend on remaining so (i.e. returning after the operation).

If that is so, why do you expect a country that you're visiting (the UK) to foot the bill for you? If leaving the UK was the "best thing you ever did" why don't you have this operation at home in the US?

WARPed

I'm sorry to hear about your medical situation and can fully understand your frustration about illegal immigrants getting handouts of tax payer money, however, you yourself have admitted you are there temporarily and therefore no longer reside in the UK, as such you are no more entitled to free NHS care than any other foreigner. While it doesn't seem fair, they do have to draw a line at some point about who is eligible, even if you have paid a lot into it in the past. I think that line being drawn over the person being a resident is quite reasonable.

Anyway, did you not actually get a free doctors appt in the end and a free prescription? You weren't entitled to these so what's the beef?

Isn't all the problems of obtaining and keeping health insurance in the USA more work and more expensive than the "red tape" and costs you faced on this occasion? Red tape and costs that you wouldn't have faced if you were legally entitled to free NHS care?

Posidrive

Firstly, I sympathise with your medical problem and hope you get it sorted.

But, the sad fact is that you are no longer resident in the UK and don't pay UK tax/national insurance, so I don't see how you can expect to be treated and get drugs on the National Health Service, despite having previously paid into the system. I don't know if you have any health insurance in the US, but I somehow expect that if you stopped paying the contributions on that and then expected them to pay for treatment because you had previously been a customer, that they would not exactly be interested.

I would say that it is quite a testement to the British Healthcare system that a non resident can see a doctor at all without being put into near financial ruin, which I suspect would be the case for a British resident visiting the US.

I do tend to agree with you that it is galling that all the illegal immigrants get everything for free. Hopefully that will soon be a thing of the past now that Blair and co and their gutless policies are a thing of the past.

reeni

It would probably cost alot of money in the US, or would cost the insurance plan a lot of money. People in the UK are forced to jump thru hoops because it is FREE. There has to be a process of checks and measures to ensure that procedure and simple processes are not manipulated or wasted. Granted it is not always perfect. In the USA everything has to be paid for by the patient or their insurance plan- therefore that is the ultimate check and measure.



to the original poster
The thing is to know and understand the system in the country you are trying to have the care in before you attempted it. Most British people have no idea what was or is involved in running the the NHS on a whole. To most british people especially expats all they remember is it was free. Coming back into the country you have to understand although you have been british, you now have to go thru some simple procedures to reactivate your file. There is not national spine for patient records. The NHS has been trying to do this for the last 10 years. Still no success. Each GP or hospital group runs different platforms, operating systems and programs the run their business. They all have to have be using the same stuff before the program can go live. SO YOU MUST GO TO YOUR LAST USED GP AND LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITY TO GET YOUR RECORDS SENT TO YOUR NEW AREA. This will have your NHS number in it.

In the USA/ Canada/ Australia I am sure that when you go to a NEW GP that you want care from you take all your records with you - I know I do. And that is just in the same country - it is logical to think that you will need a little more when moving between countries.

I do understand your anger, I myself had anger like that. But looking back - had I taken the time to understand what was needed and the way it was to work ...my life would have been alot easier.

roaringmouse

And trying to get some fairly major surgery as well by the look of it.

roaringmouse

It's neither here nor there if it costs a lot of money in the US - the point here is in regards to medical tourism, and the resultant drain on the system in the UK. The OP has chosen to live in the US, and from what's written they intend on continuing to live in the US.

If a person chooses to live in the US then it's reasonable to expect them to work with the medical system in the US. And, as a side point, if a person considers their move away from the UK to be the best thing they've done, then a sense of entitlement for free health care in the UK whilst visiting is very misplaced.

geeandtee

I'm very sorry to hear about your medical problem, I'm sure it's very difficult for you. I also understand your anger about illegal immigrants receiving free healthcare, etc. It stinks, but that's how it is. There's plenty of illegal immigrants in the US receiving similar benefits, I'm sure.

My sympathy for your plight is somewhat diminished by the fact that, in spite of living in 'paradise' and, obviously having the financial wherewithall to live in said paradise, you chose to return to the UK to get the surgery done for free, by an overburdened system you haven't paid into for 4 years. There are probably a number of people waiting for that same operation, who have lived continuously in the UK and who've made continuous contributions to the NHS. I fail to see why you should benefit from the free healthcare when you've chosen to make your permanent home elsewhere.

*shrugs*

ExBritFL

Well said.

pennylessinindia

Just add my 2 pennies worth - why does the OP think they can have free treatment once we move overseas we are not entitled to it. That is why we take out travel insurance when going to the UK and pay for everything if it is not covered. This sort of thing is what gives expats a bad name

elfman

+1

+1

Bomber Harris

I think the OP's post highlights how wonderful the NHS is, if a UK resident had turned up in the USA seeking free medical treatment, he would have been thrown out the door.
I have to wonder why if (in his words) the UK is a "hole" why he felt it necessary to go there for his operation instead of getting it in the country that diagnosed him, i.e. the US?

Mummy in the foothills

I have to agree with all this.
Sorry about your back, but you were being a health care tourist.
Had you moved back permanently and had proof of that, home sold, wife on a visa etc etc, you would have had the free at point of service the rest of the UK permanent residents enjoy.

nun

I don't understand why the OP is trying to use the NHS. He's a US resident and should be using the US system. It's also ironic that he complains about illegal immigrants getting free health care (these stories are over blown and anyway emergency care is free to all, residents, tourists, illegal immigrates etc) and then expects to receive benefits that he is not entitled to.

The NHS is free at the point of service if you are a resident of the UK or other EU country or for initial emergency treatment. If you get admitted for emergency surgery then you have to pay.

To counter the bitter experience of the OP I'm friends with an American couple and the woman had terrible vomiting and cramps during a vacation in London. They went to St Mary's emergency and an ultrasound showed she was pregnant. The doctors were initially worried about a miscarriage so they kept her in emergency overnight to determine if everything was normal. She was fine and left happy to know she was pregnant and had nothing but praise for the doctors and her, free to her, treatment.

pinkkristen

I totally agree with what all the others have said. Why should you be able to swan back across the pond to have your (unfortunate) back surgery free on the NHS - you no longer live there. Have it done in the land of 'paradise' where no medical treatments are free?! The NHS service is a fantastic service. I think its the USA that has a terrible one where poor people simply cannot afford medical treatment and no one gives a monkeys.

Gets my goat people slagging off the NHS! Esp when they haven't been living in the country for 5 years.