Pulaski

Maybe, ..... if you're a tortoise. I live about as far from the nearest Walmart as Neath is from Port Talbot. In fact as the crow flies Neath is only about 5 miles from Port Talbot.

scrubbedexpat099

My nearest Walmart would be a lot further, I have a feeling they have extended the M4 since my last visit and I was a lot younger, a lot younger.

Pulaski

As Einstein proved, if you travel faster, the distance is shorter. He did prove that, didn't he?

scrubbedexpat099

If you are smaller the distance looks longer?

I do remember my Mum driving around the roundabout outside Port Talbot three times as she kept on missing the turning.

I guess the steel works has gone.

Pulaski

Funnily enough, no the Tata Port Talbot steelworks is still there, the largest steelworks in the UK.

scrubbedexpat099

Largest in Europe if we go back to my last visit. I had relations that worked there, well everybody did.

GeoffM

Day 7 of our new coverage and the pediatrician assigned to our son is refusing to see our son because we don't have our insurance cards yet. This was after our chosen doctor, picked on the healthcare provider's website via drop-down lists, no longer exists and hasn't done so for some time.

Mrssquirrel

I think the NHS is great for emergency treatment (A&E)

However, you can wait ages to see a consultant or may not even be offered a referral. I had an obvious rotator cuff issue and the GP said my shoulder is fine. After months of agony we used my husband's private insurance. I had a nearly 100% tear. Was given an operation straight away. So glad to not be in chronic pain anymore.

robin1234

I think that varies by area. Here (northern NYS), you typically have to wait between two and six months for an appointment with a specialist. Primary care physician can probably pull strings to get you in sooner in a real emergency, but that would be up to their judgment not the patient's decision.

notshipman

The main issue with the NHS is lack of responsibility with the consumer hence A&E is overrun with sore throats etc

Also because of the lack of direct consumer contribution there is no incentive to improve services. Hence a surgery wont see an extra etc as they are not paid for it, the hospital wont do extra work etc etc I feel some sort of user contribution would create competition and drive up standards as people vie for business. There is an internal market in the UK but it is complete bs with little competition.

scrubbedexpat099

Difficult to imagine anything logical happening, too much of a political football.

Pulaski

So, you live in an under served area, of which there are many across the US, but that is not a system wide problem, and there is nothing to stop you driving to a city that is better served.

robin1234

Agreed, see the first sentence of the post you quote. That certainly is the strength of a good health care policy; you can go to any doctor or hospital in the US, no referral required, so long as that doctor or hospital can fit you in their schedule.

When I first moved here, at the job interview and subsequently, people advised me; the local doctors and hospitals are adequate if you have a minor issue. Anything potentially life threatening, go to Syracuse, Burlington, VT, or Boston.

WEBlue

We have a similar problem to Robin, not enough doctors (primary OR specialist) in our somewhat remote US coastal area. We have waited many months to get registry of a primary-care surgery that is close enough to feel safe in case one of us gets ill. Neither of us is young enough to feel comfortable with a medical practice an hour's drive away (or well over an hour if traffic is bad) where we could easily get on the rolls of several GPs.

Even the closest 'Urgent' walk-in clinic is just under an hour away in a different direction. I think many people around here just depend on that. Or for real emergencies they go to our only (small) local hospital 45 mins away.

We got similar advice, but IMO you want some kind of help (ANY kind of help) closer than a distant big city.

I suppose very rural UK areas may also have this kind of problem of many widespread patients chasing too few doctors, but I was not at all aware of it in the UK....

scrubbedexpat099

Where did you live in the UK?