Re: NHS
 

Just jumping on this thread.

We are planning to move back from Australia in late 2021. We have had private health insurance here in Australia for 10 years (even though the public system is brilliant, PH has tax advantages) and therefore have a couple of now-pre-existing conditions covered.

I wanted to keep these conditions covered privately in the UK and have moved to Bupa Australia. So long as I keep the cover for 1 year in Aus I can then transfer it to Bupa UK and keep the PEC cover, at least so I'm told.

Re: NHS
 

As from 1st October 2020 the NHS surcharge for new immigrants will be 624.00 per year for each year of the visa.

So if your wife needs a spouse visa you'll pay 1,560.00 GBP for the first 2.5 year visa and another 1,560.00 GBP for the second 2.5 visa. (on top of visa fees)

Effective October 1, 2020, the Immigration Health Surcharge – a mandatory fee that applies to all foreign nationals staying in the United Kingdom for at least six months – will increase to GBP 624 per year, up 56 percent from the current amount.

Re: NHS
 

SanDiegoGirl, Thank you so much for your very helpful information.

Re: NHS
 

Still a bargin if you ask me! Less that $1,000USD for a years coverage, no deductable and minimal out of pocket, can't beat that!

Re: NHS
 

No question about that. In the US I had health insurance 75% paid through my government job but still had to pay about $400 a month plus high co-pays. I will never complain about the surcharge.

Re: NHS
 

The nhs is a great service that is paid from our high tax...it’s definitely a great piece of mind knowing if you break something etc you don’t have the bill...but I always have said I wouldn’t want to be dying and relying on them..a lot of people are put on a waiting list knowing they have cancer..that would be a hard one...my father in U.K. and father in law USA both needed surgery blocked artery different places FIL got a call and was in hospital that night my father waited 6months ...both have pros and cons unfortunately...and it will worry me when I move over but I also know I would give my last penny if my kids/husband got ill and would rather get treatment instantly than wait..

anyway the nhs are doing a fantastic job none of the cons are on them

Re: NHS
 

Being dual US/UK citizens my wife and I have to file taxes in the both the US and UK which means I get to see the exact amount of US tax we have to pay before the foreign tax credits are applied. I know exactly how much we used to spend on healthcare in the USA in the years prior to us leaving plus each October I receive options from my US ex-employer to take up their retiree health options so I know what the premiums, co-pays and deductibles would have been. In our case US tax + health insurance premiums is more than we pay in UK tax. That calculation won't be valid going forward as I turned 65 this year so would drop off the retiree benefits and have to go onto Medicare.

In 2018 I had multiple trips to hospital including 2 outpatient procedures and in 2019 my wife had multiple trips to the hospital plus 2 outpatient surgeries. I'm certain that for both years we would have hit the max oop on my old employer insurance as it only covers 80% of hospital procedures.

Re: NHS
 

I realise it will vary countrywide but roughly how quick can one get a GP's appointment in the UK these days?

How about an X-Ray for example.

In Aus Drs and pathology labs (private but govt funded) are everywhere so it's usually within a couple of hours max.

Re: NHS
 

My experience on the Wirral (NW England, across the Mersey river from Liverpool).

GP appointment - our local GP practice had about 10 doctors. They kept some appointments back each day for emergencies, so if you felt you needed to be seen the same day that usually wasn't a problem. As mentioned previously though, little choice in which GP you saw. For non-urgent appointments I'd always call a day or two in advance.

I found the standard of care good, but the doctors worked under appointment time constraints so if you had more than one thing to discuss you'd usually be asked to make another appointment. I hasten to add that applied to my husband, not me! He'd do what he did in Oz, save up about 5 things to talk about in one appointment :lol:

An example of particular good GP care. I suddenly developed what's called 'floaters and flashes' in one eye, which can be a symptom of a detached retina. GP saw me immediately and called a local ophthamologist who said he'd see me immediately. I was fine, but if it had been a detached retina that speedy treatment would have saved the sight in that eye.

Specialist/consultant referrals - around 4 - 6 weeks to get your first appointment after your GP referred you. After that appointments were as required.

Xrays - I dropped a heavy chair on my big toe (ouch). Husband took me to the walk-in centre at the small local hospital. I was triaged immediately, sent for xray (on site), back to the doctor at the walk-in centre, diagnosed with a fracture and given pain relief and a moon boot - about 1 hour all up. I also received a follow-up appointment in the mail for the orthopedic clinic at a larger hospital in 6 weeks time.

Re: NHS
 

I live in Glasgow Scotland and don’t use the doctor very often maybe every couple of years ...but I have had to wait 10 days before..but it is depending on area..keep in mind they have had a lot of chat about making it private and now with Covid I honestly wonder if it will survive ☹️

Re: NHS
 

We can always get a same day appointment if we call between 8 and 8:30am. A couple of years ago my son hurt his wrist so I drove him 4 miles to our nearest walk-in centre where he was seen within 15 minutes and had an x-ray done. 2 weeks ago he called me one evening with eyes so painful he could hardly open them. I took him to the same walk-in centre, we got there at 9:05pm and he was seen within 15 minutes and diagnosed with an allergic reaction, at 09:50 I texted my my wife from Tescos to tell her that we’d picked up his medication and were on our way home. While waiting at the centre there was a guy ahead of him who had twisted his ankle and he went in and had an x-ray. I chatted for a few minutes with him before he went back in and came out the same time as my son, but he was wearing a surgical boot. He told his wife that he had a fracture and had to make an appointment at the fracture clinic next day.

Re: NHS
 

Those walk-in clinics are great. My son used one in Portsmouth, pre Covid, for an infection in his toe. Seen in about 20 mins.

He also used the local hospital emergency room once in the middle of the night, due to a nasty bout of food poisoning (he had chicken on a pizza from a dubious-looking pizza place, silly boy) giving him some dire dehydration symptoms. They triaged him quickly and he was on a drip maybe 40 minutes after showing up at the door. He would have used the clinic but it was 2am so they weren't open. He got himself an uber to the hospital.

This is how it should work. I know services are very stretched in some ways, and proper funding should be restored.

Re: NHS
 

Our Health Centre on the Isle of Bute says that if you phone before 12 noon, you will have contact with a doctor that day. It used to be a face-to-face consultation in The Health Center. Now in The Days of The Great Pestilence it will probably be a telephone consultation. NHS is pretty good. Memory Eternal to William Beveridge, Nye Bevan and all the others who set it up - against the hostility of Conservatives and doctors !