UK Healthcare system - a few basic questions...

Can answer the first two.

1. Yes
2. Part 1 yes my company provides private coverage through BUPA. Part 2 Not that I know of and private hospitals often don't offer all services most notable they won't offer ER.

 

1) no; but only if you prefer to pay for a private hospital.
2) you can but you don’t have to. A lot of companies will provide this as an employee perk; but you get taxed on it.
3 and 4 no idea.
5) it’s free unlike the saps in the USA!!!!

 

NHS is good for emergency care*, less so for elective (waiting times can be long). I use the NHS for minor issues / emergencies, but also have private health insurance and tend to go private when I need to see a specialist / have surgery. My GP is NHS. When I lived in London I used to see a private GP, but there aren't any where I live now. My guess is your wife would get better pay and / or conditions if she worked in a private hospital.

* very recently, I was referred to our local NHS hospital with a possible retinal tear. I saw the specialist at 2.00 p.m., he concurred with the diagnosis, and by 5.00 p.m. it had been fixed (laser surgery) and I was on my way home, all for free.

 

1) Yes
2) Yes if its urgent enough and you dont think your GP shares your concern
3) Sorry cant help
4) Sorry cant help
5) From the few GP’s that I know. Most complain that they are overworked and underpaid. I know one who wants to give up and do an MBA instead.

 

1) Yes, anyone can use the NHS and most do. It is becoming more common though (if you have the means) for people to use private GP's and services where they can. The NHS is currently under a lot of strain and non urgent conditions are sometimes a struggle to get treated. Effective treatment for Mental Health is lacking and is only now starting to be addressed. You are free chop and change between NHS and private at will.

2) Yes, it's quite normal to have private medical insurance. I'm with BUPA (the largest UK PMI). You're effectively paying to jump the waiting lists and will often see the same person privately as you would in the NHS, but at a different hospital and much faster.

3) Sorry can't help.

4) Sorry can't help.

5) The NHS is outstanding for Accident & Emergency, anything other then A&E can be hit and miss. When I was diagnosed with cancer I was relieved I had medical insurance, the treatment was outstanding and immediate (and I'm now completely clear).

 

In answer to 1) . Almost everyone uses the NHS unless you have loads of money or company insurance and want to go private, often seeing exactly the same specialist who also work privately, but without he queue. However the private hospitals are not nearly as well equipped as the state ones and most specialists would tell you that in case of a major problem you are better of in an NHS hospital.

 

The NHS is a behemoth that is on its knees. Everyone gets free care, even if they arrived in the Uk yesterday fully aware of the health problems they have, and then they stay here for years getting free treatment. - they call it health tourism, which is a catchy name for a bunch of leeches. Give them a bill as far as I’m concerned.

The NHS in my case is slow, tedious, barely copes and hasn’t been able to get it together to sort either my cancer nor the ulcers in my leg, preferring to throw me onto morphine for the pain and leave me to it, and even then, they can’t even make sure I have enough meds to keep going without having to have a row every few weeks to make them give me emergency prescriptions.

The NHS was a great idea, but it’s turned into a massive white elephant waiting to fall over and die

 

Are you in Poland right now?

The free care is for polish citizens that have put in a certain amount of work time... it’s free, there’s a wait. The free doctors very much expect tips, money, etc...for better care. At least they did not that long ago.

If you have money, you can see the same doctors, bypassing the line.

At least that’s how my wife and polish patients have explained it.

Slipping in money for the docs is very much cultural, and expected...

It’s kind of cute. When patients move here from Poland and see me under Medicare or Medicaid, they sometimes try to hand me money in envelopes. I explain we don’t do that here...

 

1) Does everyone (or nearly everyone) here use the NHS hospitals?

Most people in the UK use NHS treatment. As it deemed to be "free" (its not really as tax payers pay for it). It is very good for what it is and generally speaking in cases of emergencies they will pull out all the stops. However general NHS stuff can be slow and long winded. Getting a GP (Medical Practitioner) appointment (Once you are registered to the practice) can be massively challenging in some areas of London and waits of up to 2 weeks is normal. You can ask for an "emergency appointment" but generally you pretty much have to be on you last legs to get one. A GP generally will let you have one problem per appointment, which is not really ideal as sometimes the problem you may have might be connected to a number of other things.

2) Does anyone here supplement the NHS with private healthcare or exclusively use private providers?

I used to use NHS, but now I pay for a private GP who I can generally see within the hour, or sometimes on half an hour. I can email anytime and he will respond when he is free and also he will call back when I need him. All medical procedure are done privately via AXA Insurance a policy provider as a benefit to my wife from her employer and it covers us and our family. Once a referral letter is composed by my GP, I can elect a specialist consultant of my choice and if any procedures are required AXA are informed first to agree, which 99.9% of the time they do. They will pick up the cost of any MRI's/CT scans also. Ultrasounds however come out of my "outpatients" allowance however.

3) Any doctors here? I'm very confused by the titles and have a few questions about how compensation works and might vary by NHS vs. Private, and region, etc. I'd welcome the oppty to chat on the phone for a 10-20 minutes and get educated.

Generally speaking most GP's will just do NHS work in most parts of the UK, however in London and the surrounding areas some also do private work. The patient generally speaking cannot combine the same GP to do private and NHS treatment. GP pay scales are here https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/pay/general-practitioners-pay

Consultants are generally reffered to Mr/Miss/Mrs https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/patient-care/surgical-staff-and-regulation/qualifications-of-a-surgeon/

Most have a regular NHS daily job, but most do private work. Waiting times for a Consultant appointment on NHS can take weeks-months, depending on the medical issue. However if you have private you can generally see them in a few days, or next or same day.

4) Anyone have any experience with NICU's in the UK? (either with a child as a patient or working in one)

My sister had twins and they required NICU treatment. At the time they hospital they were born at was massively stretched however the care they received was amazing. NHS really do pull out all the stops in this situation.

5) Anything you would want a newcomer to the UK to know about the healthcare system (both as a new patient and as a new doctor working here).

NHS is fundamentally very good and brilliant, however it is massively stretched for a number of reasons. They is a lot of excess middle management and unnecessary non job people in it. It needs a massive procurement overhaul as suppliers are taking the pee out of them. However when the brown stuff hits the fan, the staff are amazing.

 

Are we talking about Poland...or the UK? It’s not the same system...at least I don’t think so.

 

The answers to your questions here are pretty thorough and I agree with the consensus, the NHS is good but you can do better in some circumstances by taking out private insurance. Maybe that's the initial route to take, i.e. you and your wife take out insurance and once you're here, you can decide whether and for how much you want private cover to continue. Whether your wife works in the NHS or privately (or both), she'll quickly have an insider's view of the situation.