Moving Back the UK
 

I lived in the U.S. for 41 years, not one single complaint best thing that ever happened to me. Due to life changes I decided in late 2023 I would move back to the UK. Arrived on 31st October 2023, had a place to live until I purchased a house. I have some health problems so signed up with the local doctor’s office, of course you have to prove where you live, Problem #1, then open a bank account so I could transfer money from the U.S. to the UK Problem #2, to open the bank account I had have a letter from the doctor’s office saying you are registered with them, to register with the doctor’s office I had to have a letter showing I had a bank account. After a few weeks I managed to accomplish both of these tasks with some difficulty. Next make an appointment to see a doctor, Problem #3, this was on November 24th no problem sir I get you in on February 21st 3 month wait, told them I don’t have enough medications to make it to that date, Problem #4, they did review my medications and reluctantly issued some of the meds I needed to tie me over. February 21st went to see the doctor; he had read my file and decided I needed some tests, “My file explained everything about my health problems and was up to date” so the next 4 months were spent getting all sorts probes, CT scans, MRIs, samples of all my bodily fluids and whatever else they could think of, Problem #5, Oh you need to see a specialist “ I told them this back in November that I have to a specialist every 90 days for medication review” “they don’t listen and don’t they don’t care “so let’s make an appointment for that. Problem #6, it’s now July2024, First specialist appointment for that won’t be until August 2025, ‘Yes August 2025” 13 month wait. People are dying waiting to see a doctor in this country !!!!!!. “Not exaggerating”

Moving on, buying a house, it’s not like America, America you make an offer, its excepted, you sign the forms, if you have all your ducks lined up you will close In about 25 to 35 days, all done you move in, Nope not here, if your extremely lucky and I do mean extremely lucky 3 to 4 months, more than likely it will more than that, so its hurry up and wait and wait and wait etc,etc,etc..Oh and getting a contractor to come and give you a price and do some work on your house well it’s like above its hurry up and wait and wait and wait etc,etc,etc.. Oh what would be a 2 day job in the U.S. will take several days and lots of tea breaks here.

Don’t forget the extra money you will spend every month to get the alignment on your vehicle fixed because of extremely poor road conditions NOT kidding. There are a thousand other negatives I could mention, do you homework.

Sorry to seem so negative but honestly I really don't have anything positive to say, Bottom line is I don’t advise it’

I am supposed to see a specialist soon, Ha-ha, once he gets me back on track I will heading west again and I can’t wait, Do your Homework before you make that big decision, and remember that place you remember doesn't exist anymore..

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Personally, I found the UK to be largely the country I left 20 years before. Of course things move on, but they do that whatever country you are in :)

I do find it very odd that you needed to register with a GP in order to open a bank account. Never heard that one before. I haven't been registered with a GP since 2003, there's no actual requirement to do it, so I don't really see why a bank would be able to insist on it I think I'd prefer the NHS to the US system though, where many people simply can't access healthcare at all because of the cost - people die there too.

And forgive me if I'm reading your post wrong, but it sounds as if you are just staying in the UK for the benefit of free healthcare and then leaving again?

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Well my husband and I moved to the UK just over a year ago and we’re very happy and content. He lived in Canada since 1966 and I’m Canadian by birth. Next month is our 50th wedding anniversary so we’re not youngsters.
Our experience has been totally different. Based on information from this group, we opened a UK bank account before we left Canada. We stayed with my husband’s sister when we first arrived until we bought our house and, yes, the process is different but we knew it would be and I believe it has always been like that.
We had no difficulty registering with a GP and have been well looked after. No complaints.
Sorry you are not enjoying your move but we think it’s great.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

I'm with you, I came back from Australia 3 years ago this week after almost 20 years away. It feels so good to be home, and everything to do with the move smoother than I ever expected!
I'm not in the house-buying market, but I did own a flat before I left, and I'm sure the process than was the same as people say it is now. Very different from Australia, as is the renting experience, but its a different country with different rues, I don't really understand how people expect things to be exactly the same - I guess if they wee, why would anyone bother moving!!

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Like others here our experience in moving back to the UK has been totally positive. We had lived in the USA for 29 years and had a great time but most of our friends and family were in the UK and we had stayed in touch and still missed them. We opened a bank account in the UK before we moved, registered and saw a doctor on arrival within a week - I only had one prescription and the doctor immediately gave me a repeat prescription. This was in 2016.

We have 2 adult children and in 2017 our son decided to move back and it went extremely smoothly, moving in with us while he bought a house which took 3 months as had the purchase of our house here. I don't think you can buy a house in less time here, it is what it is. In 2022 our daughter decided to move back as well, same good experience, moved in with us for the 3 months it took to buy a house.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

For the life of me why oh why would you move to another country with a quote like this “I lived in the U.S. for 41 years, not one single complaint best thing that ever happened to me” ? I have never had any issues regarding the NHS neither has my DH or family, opening bank accounts was easy for us and also buying a car was simple the one thing I would have an “ich” about is I wish house buying was like in West Australia but hey hoe you cannot have everything .

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

I didn't share my experiences on the healthcare front. My wife I and retired in 2010 at age 55 so from 2011 onwards needed to fund our healthcare as retirees instead of employees with heavily subsidized insurance. We needed a PPO policy because we traveled extensively often away for months at a time and in 2016, the last year we paid for our health insurance our premiums were $697/mo (£523/mo) plus our deductibles (excess). Over the next 6 years we were pretty fit, no surgeries or hospital stays, plus we just had the 1 prescription for me. Because the billing system is so poor in the USA I kept a close track of expenses and our total out of pocket costs for that 6 year period was a total of $47,124 (£35,343). Because we were so used to paying for private healthcare we decided to take out private insurance in England (like millions of others here). This year, in our 70's, the premiums are still "only" £88/month with a £500 excess. This provides a same day video doctor appointment. I didn't need to use the private health insurance in 2018 when I had heart problems resulting in an ablation procedure in October that year - the NHS was outstanding and we happen to live close to a regional heart center.

On the private front my wife has had cataract surgery in both eyes, I have had a badly torn meniscus repaired in my right knee and 6 weeks ago a knee joint replacement in my left knee. The billing has been really easy, nothing like the nightmare of the EOBs you get swamped with in the US system. Recently I had a video appointment with a doctor who sent me a PDF referral to a specialist for my left knee, and as it happens the surgeon who did such a great job on my right knee in 2021 was not yet retired so I chose him. The in-office appointment, MRI and phone appointment with him to discuss the MRI was billed to the insurance company and was £634 for which I paid my £500. They haven't yet billed for the surgery but I will have nothing to pay. I expect that bill will come after he signs me off this week after I see him and have my 3rd physio appointment. Like before I expect to see a single invoice go the insurance company covering everything once treatment is completed.

In summary, for the last 6 years in the USA where we had no major health events it cost us a total of £35,343, and this last 6 years in the UK where we needed a lot more healthcare including 2 eye surgeries and 2 knee surgeries it has cost us a total of £12,374.

We realize that we are very fortunate to be able to afford private healthcare to cut waiting times but we have also had good experiences with the bread and butter stuff using the NHS. These days I am taking 4 prescriptions and my wife is taking 3 prescriptions all of which are free to us because of our age and we both have annual checkups at our local GP surgery.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Thats really interesting, thanks! I've heard so much on here over the years about the costs of healthcare system in the US, but you rarely see a good, clear comparison like that.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

When I moved back I registered with the local GP practice, took about an hour with the forms, got on the electoral roll first morning back, just took along my rental agreement to show was resident, still had UK Bank accounts so no problem there, just contacted pension providers with bank account numbers, took no more than an hour in total.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

I found the thread starter's story and experience on moving back sobering and can very much sympathize. I have yet to make the move back, having delayed it for years as I consider the implications and huge impact of such a life changing decision. If having made the move and then realizing it didn't work out, the complication and expense of returning I'm sure must be devastating.

I read here all the time about the many positive return experiences, but I'm also most interested in hearing about those that haven't worked out quite so well. Likely for many, it's not worth posting those experiences. It's bad enough going through them let alone describing such letdowns. So I hope returning members here will continue to share all aspects, good or bad.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Not sure just how it works with other countries, but we were able to get copies of our NHS records on a CD to take with us, and, of course, being the NHS it was free.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Comes under UK Data Protection laws, everyone is entitled to a free copy of their medical records :)

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

I have been a member of an early retirement forum in the USA for over 20 years and this morning one of our members started a thread on his delight at he and his wife reaching Medicare age (65) which will greatly reduce he and his wife’s healthcare costs.

”This year my Retiree Medical went way up to $31.5K a year. That is with a $4800 deductible and max out of pocket of $7500. The Premium was a $5k increase over last year. Max cost would have been $39K since DW maxes the Max out of pocket with cancer remission treatments.
.
​​​​​.
Costs going down to below $10K with almost no deductible except the $2K on Plan D. Small one on Plan B“

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

The U.S.private healthcare system is not only a mess. but a disaster, IMO. Medical debt is the biggest cause of personal bankruptcy. It's estimated 26 million American have no health insurance and can't afford to see a doctor. Obamacare has helped, but no thanks to the Republican Party.

Re: Moving Back the UK
 

Having returned to the UK with literally (well, actually) reams of medical paperwork - nothing serious, but reams of it. I went through it all and took the 'important' bits along to my GPs surgery who scanned it all in and returned it to me (I also had a pile of DVDs with MRIs/CT scans). Only issue is that they remain as scanned documents rather than being incorporated into the NHS system - so your GP won't necessarily see the information unless they read the documents. Moreover, many of the tests us different units to the NHS - most can be converted to units that the NHS use, but some have different techniques so are not directly comparable.