Fish n Chips 56

I'm under Obamacare too and my Drs appointments are much cheaper than a walk in clinic, I had to go to a walk in clinic one Saturday last month, that 5 Mins at the walk in cost $275, I paid $75 out of pocket.

Fish n Chips 56

We sometimes see Nurse Practitioners instead of a doctor, the price is the same and the level of care is just the same, top notch.

cheers

I'm with AARP and based on what you say you pay I guess I have nothing to complain about.
I think we pay about that for two of us and we pay nothing else.
$70 for a 3 month supply of insulin (Humalog) is all. All other prescriptions are covered.

Rodney about your pacemaker.
When my wife goes in for a checkup for her defibrillator they wheel a monitor into the room and they check it out without touching her. Must be using radio waves or whatever.

Cheers all

jasper123

Hi Perth, a lot has been said about the long 2 or 3 weeks wait we have in the UK to get an appointment with our GP, this is true but where I live my experience is if I felt I wanted or needed to see a G.P. the same day, all I have to do is call the receptionist and tell her that I would like a phone call from the duty G.P. the receptionist would then ask me my complaint/condition, if its not too private I would tell her if not I would say I prefer not to say as it will be between the G.P. and me, then she would normally say very well I will put you down for a G.P. phone consultation to call you this morning, when the doctor calls he asks what's wrong, I tell them and he or she will if they think it necessary ask me to come in to the surgery at a certain time that day, or if not will write a prescription for me to pick up at surgery right away,

And we have talked about the A&E and also walk in clinics, ----- the A&E could have seven or more hours wait time before anyone see's you and if your condition is really serious you could be laying on a trolly in a long corridor for 6 or 7 hours, of course if you are really seriously in a bad way like heart attack or stroke or your leg is falling off then I think you are seen pretty well right away

But I really do like the walk in clinic option, and the opening hours are great too 12 hours a day 7 days a week, so if your condition at the time is an emergency --- but not life threatening then at a clinic you can be seen within the hour normally, and appointments are never either needed OR given, and as for all health care over here no I.D. or payment is ever asked for, I like that and I totally feel that I am getting excellent care from the Nurse Practitioner,
All in all my overall opinion of the NHS is this ----- its not perfect in any way, in fact it is sadly in a lot of trouble especially with Nurse and Doctor mass shortages across the whole of the UK, but so far even with all the problems the NHS is not doing too bad!!!! mostly I think as the result of the dedicated and hard working hospital, clinic, and G.P. staff!!!

And with me being used to the American private health care system for 36 years, this system over here in UK is a breeze and I never have to pay a monthly health care insurance or medicare premium, and no co-pays or complicated deductibles to pay for, and the best thing is for the over 60's in England & Wales --- or (any age) if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you pay zero co-pay for all prescriptions, never a single charge no matter how many prescriptions you have to have, that's really wonderful you know!!!! I feel very fortunate that I live in UK, I could never take anything for granted, Iv'e been back now for almost six years and still loving it

Perth

It's hard to know sometimes whether the complaints are just whinging or if they are truly the state of things. The politicians are no help as they all have a vested interest in telling us the sky is falling In the end I just tell myself that in comparison to the US system, no matter how bad in any particular area, it could not be as bad as here. I have sat on a trolley for 8 hours WITH insurance at an ER before. The bill was nice and hefty afterwards too, with my co-pay alone in the thousands.

jasper123

Years ago when I first begun my expat life in Australia in 1965 when I was almost 19, I migrated on my own under the £10 scheme, so I was a £10 pom!!!
when I left the UK Harold Wilson was the prime minister and I think Holt was the prime minister in Oz--- who I remember reading he got eaten by a Shark later on
Anyway getting back to the health care topic, somehow I developed a skin condition over there called Psoriasis, when I left Ozz and in all the 36 years that I lived in the U.S. I was treated by many dermatologists over all those years, some would give me pills, some would give me creams & lotions, the treatment would take the condition away for maybe 6 months or a year until the next time, and the same kind of treatment would be repeated over the years by a multitude of Dermatologists---------- nothing worked to keep it away for more then a year,

Then I returned to the U.K. in 2010, and after a few months my psoriasis flared up again, it got so bad that I could not even walk, my feet were so painful, so I went to my NHS G.P. and she saw how bad it was and immediately arranged an emergency appointment with a dermatologist the very next day, he looked at my feet and hands and he ordered for me to have what they call ultra violet light treatment, 3 times a week, they started me on just a few seconds exposure each visit and gradually increased the session times, it took over 5 months of treatments of 3 days each week, and my skin became completely normal and healthy again, now there's no cure for psoriasis but it has stayed away compleatly for 5 years so far, and that's never happened before in all the decades and treatment I had in the U.S. from lots of there dermatoligists and not once did anyone of them even mention or suggest light treatment to me, I NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE, apparently it is an expensive treatment, and I don't know but maybe the doctors know that insurance companies don't normally cover this treatment? so they just keep giving pills and creams forever knowing that its just a quick fix and that it will continue to return frequently, and maybe too its the dermatologist way of making sure there patients come back time and time again, (repeat business)

and so as it turned out for me coming home to UK made it possible for me to have this treatment and so it has saved me from years of suffering,
Me thinks that the fundamental differences in the UK health care system and the U.S. system is that one is a social government run system free at the point of need to everyone,
and the other is a privately run (must make a profit no matter what) commercial big business, good healthcare but only availible to those who can afford it,

TAKE AWAY THE BIG GREEDY CORPORATE RUN HEALTH CARE COMPANIES AND REPLACE THEM BY A WELL RUN GOVERNMENT FUNDED SYSTEM, AND THEN JUST MAYBE A GOOD HONEST MARCUS WELBY MD STYLE SYSTEM WOULD BE POSSIBLE OVER TIME. ------ JUST LIKE IT USED TO BE IN AMERICA, anyone remember those days? I do !!!! Americans were not always ripped off by the health care system you know. not until the big corporations moved in with brute force and decided to make there ugly mark in the workplace with HMO's etc etc I think in the early to mid 1980's

aries

Fasinating how we can have different experiences. I developed psoriasis on my scalp in 2010, and a private dermatologist referred me to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for free treatment. I attended there each morning for 6 days where a cream would be applied all over my scalp, and then covered with a cap for 5 hours. My hair would then be washed and dried, and I would return the next day, and so on.

Before the treatment they ran a warm bath for me which contained oils, and I luxuriated in that for 20 minutes. Tea, coffee and fruit was freely available, and lunch was provided, necessary for a day at the hospital.

I was told that stress can cause the condition, and since I've been back in England it has returned. However the NHS has been quite indifferent, with only a GP prescribing a liquid Betnovate which doesn't seem to be doing anything. I've been told that the NHS doesn't undertake the kind of treatment I received in Adelaide, so I'm not at all happy.

Pollyana

Please don't take this the wrong way, but, I've got to admit,even as a life long sufferer from a similar condition, I would not expect nor want the NHS to produce nicely oiled baths with free refreshments and lunch.
Take the cream, go home, apply it yourself and wash it off yourself. its a chronic condition, its going to keep reoccurring and its very common. The NHS cannot afford to support that sort of treatment. I would not expect medicare to fund it over here either.

Perth

Stormer999

I think you will find that the light treatments are not expensive but carry risks that outweigh their use unless the psoriasis condition is extreme. My doctor many years ago discussed this with me and assured me I was better off with discomfort rather than risk skin cancer or damage to private bits. I now use a gel called Daivobet together with NZ sun works for me.

BEVS

Random and not of the UK or health services private or public.

Stormer. My husbands cousin suffers severe psoriasis. He found the Hanmer thermal baths soothed no-end. Of course, it being summer here in NZ his skin was exposed to the air/ a lot more as the weather was clement . Of course taking great care not to burn.

Anyway , what I am saying is that he felt the baths helped no-end whilst he was here. Not too far from you.

aries

Psoriasis varies from one person to the next. I have not expected the NHS to give me oily baths etc (the baths were for my very dry skin at that time), but all I've been prescribed here is a thin liquid to use, no cream as you mentioned. I had been told in Oz that the liquid Betnovate achieves little, so after their 6 days of hospital treatment, they gave me jars of the stronger cream to use at home if required.

With my psoriasis not bothering me any more, those big heavy containers of cream were not packed for my return to the UK, unfortunately the stress I've experienced back here has returned the condition. I have not been prescribed the cream here even though I've discussed it with my GP.

I've noticed that GPs vary with their treatment of anything, so perhaps I should discuss it with a different one at the practice.

I well remember on the 6th day of my treatment in Adelaide I told the nurse my scalp was burning, and she quickly rushed me to the basin and washed the cream away. She said it was very strong and usage of it has to be closely monitored. It certainly worked though!

jasper123

As you say aries fascinating how we can have different experiences with the treatment that we receive in the U.K. I do think treatment here differs hugely depending on what part of the country you live in, I think thats weird!!!
you only mention the cream or lotion the G.P. gave you here, has your G.P. not refered you to a dermatologist yet? where I live they normally start you on some cream and then tell you to come back in two weeks at which time if they see little or no improvement they will refer you to a specialist,
aries one thing I have noticed over here in UK WITH THE DOCTORS IN GENERAL IS YOU do need to be a little pushy with them if they are holding back with there decisons on your continued health care, you do have to stick up for yourself more here and even suggest certain types of treatments that you think may help!!!!
But with my experience with G.P.'s when they are trying to diagnose skin conditions is most of them cant tell the difference between ECZEMA and PSORIASIS cause they are quite simular in the way they look, but of course a dermatologist can tell the difference right away and can treat the right disease with the right treatment, thats why they are specialists and not G.P'S

Pollyana

Funny how I found the opposite, with a very wide eperience of UK GPs.

A specialist I saw in the UK in the 80s actually said they thought I was suffering from some kind of nettle rash.......
In Aus I have had to tell every GP bar 1 that I actually have severe eczema and no, in my 50s I am not prepared to listen to them saying 'you'll grow out of it' whoch is their standard line. As for when they advise me that the best treatment is soaking in a bath of medicated oil and have I tried it, if not thenthey can't help, well after 50 years I clearly know more about the condition than they do, so I now don't bother even visiting a GP. The internet is my medical assistant and online drug stores are wonderful.

Pollyana

Eczema likewise varies from person to person. betnovate has never been any good for me, worse than useless. Oily baths are wonderful but I can't get the oil on prescription even though it would ease the condition greatly. I actually buy E45 oilon Ebay from the uk now, cheaper and better than anything over-the-counter here.