Barbara B.

Had a great experience with a National Health Helpline on a recent fact-finding tour to the UK. Sad to hear that the new government are planning to axe the service.

How much of what we planning-to-return expats are banking on is under threat?

The NHS helpline was a perk but will be sadly missed.

reeni

The help line is not actually getting scrapped it is getting revamped and a new service added. The online potion of it will still be available.

There will be a 111 and a 999 number. "provide people with two simple numbers: 999 for emergencies, 111 for everything else."

I have used NHS direct many times and it is a great service, but for the most part they will always recommend seeing a doctor - either an out of hours one or your own GP. Often when I called the out of hours service I had the same service as I got talking to NHS Direct - but with an appointment in 30 mins or so if I needed one.

here is a useful link that gives a bit of an explaination:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08...direct_online/

This is a good site for keeping up to date one NHS stuff:
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Pages/NHSEngland.aspx

roaringmouse

Except that 112 is also an emergency number, which can be used in many countries including the UK (in addition to 999). I feel 111 is a bit too close to 112, and they'll also get the same issue of accidental calling from mobiles to 111 as they do to 999 (and other same-digit emergency numbers in other countries), when phones are in pockets.

sallysimmons

My advice is don't bank on any government services. The things I'm banking on (my friends and family) aren't going anywhere. The rest will never be assured.

Barbara B, I've noticed you worry a lot about the UK. Are you definitely planning to return or just investigating at the moment?

whitelinen

Where does it say that this service is going to be axed?

Its not a perk its a service so can be axed at any time.

As there is 24/7 medical help freely available in the UK I dont see the need to phone a help line which in my opinion was just another job creating scheme.

Whatever happened to common sense?

Barbara B.

lol, yes that's true, now you say it, after a long line of breathless questions I was just told to see a doctor.

Glad to hear the line is not getting scrapped though. A revamp sounds more hopeful.

Barbara B.

I get your point about common sense. I heard about the 'axe' through someone who works in the system, I hear now from 'reeni' that it's not an axe it's a revamp.

Barbara B.

I do worry a lot. I'd like to develop a less worrisome attitude but am short of ideas.

Without going into too much detail (impossible on an open internet forum) it doesn't look like I have much choice about a re-turn to the UK.

Which may be why I am worrying, because it isn't as if I have anything definite I am re-turning to AS YET, I am still fishing about, but rather that I have to get used to the idea pretty soon.

I had what I felt to be perfectly sensible reasons for leaving, I wanted a better life and sort of got it out of the UK but this was based on having a lot of negative experiences in the UK, and living for brief spells out of the UK and always looking at the UK as a kind of dustbin from afar. Getting older has taught me that a lot of what I experienced will have been to do with the areas I confined myself to in the UK (perhaps??), and even that now, as I am older, I can enjoy a lot of what life in the UK might give me that I wouldn't do as a whippersnapper.

The odds of my definite return to the UK change from day to day depending on what exit I am thinking of using, of what entrance I will take, I am trying to hedge my bets and get the basics sorted first, trying to do this sensibly and trying not to think too much about why I left, or if the reasons for not living in the UK are still strong.

I wonder how other expats deal with all this, which is why I am using this forum.

Wub

Sounds to me as if you're in a dilemma about it all. Indecisiveness can be more stressful than anything, particularly when you feel that in order to make a decision, you have to have every possible bit of information to hand to inform that decision....head ruling heart perhaps?

Maybe, if you know that you have to come back (for whatever reason) then stacking the odds in your favour at this stage will help the transition enormously. By stacking the odds I mean location, access to services, access to jobs or leisure activities.

Don't go back to your original location but take a chance on a different area - one that ticks the boxes for where you are in life now and where you want to be a year or two down the line. And don't be full of fear - the only thing to fear is fear itself...as some wise sage once said..and I think I agree completely with that sentiment!

All the best to you.

Barbara B.

Thanks, much of what you said resonated.

Wub

Happy to be of help Barbara. Put yourself first now - if you can, given personal circumstances of course - and if possible, do a reccie back home, visiting a couple of places that tick some of those boxes for access/lifestyle.

Nowhere is perfect. Wherever you go in the world there's the good, the bad and the downright awful. By choosing a location that has more pluses than minuses, you can begin a carefully considered evaluation of your options for the future.

Its hard, but not impossible.

Go on, you can do it!!

windsong

What is the National Health Helpline?

dunroving

I think it may be referring to a toll-free number you can call if you have a medical problem and can't get to the doctors. For many ailments you can get a diagnosis on the phone, or advice on whether you should get to a hospital. I think it's also called NHS 24. However, as you can probably imagine, there have been a few sensationalist news stories about really sick people who called the Helpline and ended up dead because of bad advice.

windsong

Thank you

Beedubya

I think this is the nanny state going too far IMO. Who are the people on the other end of the phone? Medically qualified doctors and nurses? Probably not.

I think somebody said it above. Whatever happened to common sense? Bah Humbug!!