urgent help, needed
 

Hi

Im on a 1 yr work visa/permit and am paying tax,

i have had abodominal pain for 3-4 weeks and today just registered with a GP and have been told to get an abdo ultra sound.

Im on a work permit/visa and am a british citizen,

im also a nurse so should know this but,

will they charge me for my GP treatment? they asked if i was a resident i said yes i live and work here,

so anyone know the score, am i in for a big expense as well as pain

thanks

Re: urgent help, needed
 

A work permit is not the same as residency. I think you'll have to pay full wack for everything, but then again so will most residents unless it's life threatening or you're prepared to wait for ages. Get the scan, then talk to the GP about how much it's going to cost you - for major urgent stuff, you maybe better off returning to the UK.

Re: urgent help, needed
 

My sis had treatment at the A&E and because of the reciprocal agreement between here and the UK her treatment was free but I don't know about non emergencies sorry.

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Would think having ab pain was an emergency? In which case doesn't the ACC cover it?

Do you have private health cover?

Recently we took our daughter to hospital in Singapore (S$124) then again in Malaysia for me (M ringit $120)

Regardless of cost hope you get it sorted soon mate - hope you feel better.

Kiwi

Re: urgent help, needed
 

If you are looking to claim ACC use the terms "fell, hit, crashed" or similar when describing how the pain occurred :)

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Just read you're a nurse so you'll already know that :o !

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Someone (a pensioner) ran into me at Woolies with a trolley.
They were on a mobile phone and speeding

past the checkouts (to avoid payment)

Didnt catch the reg - think it was "gry pwr".

:D

Re: urgent help, needed
 

How are you now Sugo?

Re: urgent help, needed
 

hey im ok, pain still there and have a fever, but more worried about the health system here and if i might be charged as i did tick the 'are you a new zealand resident box' all the nurses at work said it will probably be ok, i think the ultra sound is private so will have to pay for that anyway, 170$ nzd

hopefully it will just be a hernia or something, but is scary, makes me appreciate the health service in the UK alot more. Free at the point of contact is so important,

other option i have is that i can attend the emergency dept with abdo pain and be seen as an emergency, then using the reciprocal arrangement will get the treatment free, will wait and see what the blood tests and the ultra sound says.

I should know all this as a nurse, but its not something we cover often, apparently the Fijians have been coming to new zealand, claiming to be residents then getting billions of dollars free healthcare from hospitals, but they dont have a reciprocal arrangement, like the UK does, but they get away with it,

being that i am paying full amount of tax, and am a public service worker, i doubt i could,

i also dont really want to have to go back home for an Op, ive made a life here, the move to melbourne is on the back burner, as ive met someone special here, and am staying for the moment, havnt told my parents whats going on yet,

anyway will keep u upto date with how the health system is here

thanks

sugo

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Hey sugo,

I recently had to go to a Heart specialist that my Doctor referred me too. I had a choice, either go on the public waiting list or go privately, .
I chose to go privately(what a mistake that was), my GP told me roughly $120 and I thought that wasn't too bad BUT when I came out of the clinic the bill was $660 :scared: I had a fit (just about had a heart attack there and then) and said that I couldn't pay that, bla,bla so walked out, I'm making them wait for there money (I was only there for 20min), I paid the Doc fee which was $120 and the rest was for the machine they hook you up too. So all in all I got charged $660.00 for a clean bill of health :D


Here I found this:


To access publicly-funded health services , you must be lawfully in New Zealand at the time of seeking services and be:

* A holder of a work permit who:

* holds a current permit that is issued for a period of two years or more, or

* holds a current permit that allows you to remain in New Zealand for a period of time that, when added together with the time you've already been lawfully in New Zealand, amounts to two consecutive years or more (eg people who have had their work permit renewed).


Guide to Eligibility for Publicly Funded Health and Disability Services in NZ

Citizens of the United Kingdom visiting New Zealand

Citizens of the United Kingdom living in the UK who visit New Zealand on a temporary basis (less than two years) can receive urgent medical treatment in New Zealand under the Reciprocal Health Agreement between New Zealand and the UK.

However, UK passport holders not living in the UK do not have cover under the Reciprocal Agreement.

If the medical treatment relates to an existing medical condition, then a medical specialist must agree that treatment is needed to stop the condition getting seriously worse if it is to be provided under the Reciprocal Health Agreement.

However, if a new condition arises (eg, if your appendix needs to be removed), then the medical specialist must agree that prompt treatment is required. In both cases the need for the treatment must arise during your visit. Therefore, routine checks for existing conditions won't usually be provided under the Agreement.

Note that the Reciprocal Agreement does not cover any medical treatment that you travel to New Zealand specifically to receive.

Maternity services required during birth, labour and the immediate postnatal period are covered under the Reciprocal Agreement, as are any maternity service that is required urgently. However, routine antenatal services, are not covered and you can expect to be charged for these services.
People who need ongoing supplies of medication are able to take a reasonable supply (the amount you are likely to need as your usual dose) with them into New Zealand.

A letter from the prescribing GP confirming the details of the medication is recommended and may need to be shown to customs officials.

Many medicines are subject to import controls and you will need to get formal approval in advance from the United Kingdom giving you permission to bring restricted medicines into the country

If your treatment qualifies under the agreement, you will receive medical treatment on the same basis as New Zealanders would receive it, so it may not be exactly the same as the treatment you would get in the UK. In practice this means that you pay:

* the cost of visits to a GP

* for GP-referred laboratory and diagnostic tests

* for private specialists

* full costs for prescription items prescribed by a GP when not associated with an acute event.


Part charges on pharmaceuticals will apply where drugs are not fully subsidised.

For the purposes of this clause, the United Kingdom means England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Eire is not included.

You'll need to show your UK passport if seeking treatment under this Reciprocal Health Agreement.

If you are a citizen of the United Kingdom and you move to New Zealand for two years or more, then you should read the ordinarily resident section to confirm your eligibility under that clause.

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Wow Sugo!
That's good news and I bet you feel a lot happier now.
I wondered why you were still in NZ after you posted you were off to Oz. Hope you get this pain sorted it's awful just wondering what the matter is isn't it.

Re: urgent help, needed
 

hey thanks, well still not better probably worse, have had a fever for last few days too, something is not right, as for my eligibility for healthcare i am keeping quiet on that one, i do have a hospital number and the people at work say that
will make it easier,

other option is to hurry up and renew my work permit,

bizzarre though, i have never been really ill in England but since beign here i have had the full on flu, and now this, have also learnt i become very dellusional when i hav a raised temperature, the person im seeing was kind of suprised last night when he tried to get me to drink fluids and i apparently said that i dont need to as im already under water. Then i went on trying to get him to drink. Funny really especially when i have no knowledge of this

scary

urgent help, needed
 

Sounds a bit like electrolyte imbalance to me………….happened to me as well, ate some bacon that appeared to be OK from the fridge, unbeknown to me it was past it’s sell by date and it gave me a variant of some gastroenteritis disorder, also made me a blithering fool for just over two days, spurting a babbling lots of rubbish.

All due to electrolyte imbalance, fluids can do strange things………….

Wife says I have never been the same.

Get well soon Sugo.

Re: urgent help, needed
 

You work in a hospital as a nurse, is it not possible to get some favours done by the in-house staff there? Just explain the situation to a senior member of staff that you get on ok with and see what they say maybe? Your health must come first. And next time get some bloody health insurance mate! :)

Hope all turns out well for you

Re: urgent help, needed
 

Sugo that doesn't sound good at all! thank god you have someone to look after you.
I know what you mean about the never being ill until you came here, I've had alsorts go wrong with me .. I had a growth for suspected skin cancer removed from my arm a while ago and now I have one on my eye. I'm falling to bits and the waiting lists are just as bad here aren't they, I already got thrown off one waiting list and told to go back to my Dr if it got any worse :(

Hope you get treatment soon and start to feel better.