Arriving in Falmouth, England, after spending a week in Florence, Italy, I realized I was sick enough to need a doctor. The problem: no doctor's offices were open over the weekend. Our wonderful B&B owner told me I'd have to wait 'til Monday to try to get an appointment. As luck would have it, my partner learned from two women at a pub that you can dial 111 to seek help for non-emergency medical needs. Here's the info: http://www.nhs24.com/contactus/otherlanguages/~/media/nhs24/contact%20us/other%20languages/easyread_2014.ashx
I called, answered some questions, then received a call-back from a health practitioner within the hour with more questions. She determined I should see someone that day. I was able to get an appointment at a community hospital's clinic in a small town about 30 minutes away (thankfully, we had a rental car) . Amazingly, there was no charge for the visit. Thank you, NHS! Even my antibiotics were free because I'd just turned 60 (the reason for the vacation).
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9442 posts
Wow. Great tip. Great service. Too bad we don't have that in this country.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2656 posts
Hi Northfield
wow thats great. thank you england and being a "senior". some good benefits for the 60+. had to see dr in amsterdam, our landlord of rented appt made appt, 50 euros i paid cash, had a tear in meniscus, never heard of that. flew to florence, saw sports medicine dr 140euros, i paid cash. i was not a happy camper in walking towns. did my own thing as much as could, my three friends with me were so understanding. got back to bay area of california and saw orthopedic doctor and got 3 shots of a gel in knee. Damn it hurt!! so after my recovery we are flying in september to paris, venice and amsterdam to enjoy, walk wherever and have a great time! was reimbursed for medical bills here with my insurance. you get lemons and i'm making lemoncello, so happy to travel again. Happy travels
aloha princess pupule
Posted by
Portsmouth
5760 posts
As a non EU resident you should have been billed for the treatment and medicine but as the NHS is so inept at billing foreigners so many avoid having to make payment.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC
88 posts
Great advice on this thread. Thank you for the tip.
I think you would find that many (possibly even most) Americans want a system more like NHS.
And let me tell you, your cold medications are superior to any I have found here. I got a cold on our trip and stopped in at a pharmacy. I tried two different sore throat lozenges on that trip and they were both far superior to what I can get in the US. I think the cold medication might have been a tad more effective too.
The only thing I couldn't find was a zinc tablet like Zicam. I swear by that stuff.
Posted by
California USA
4242 posts
Not England but our experience in an EU health care system:
We had two people in our family need a doctor during our recent 3 weeks in Ireland. In both cases we went to a nearby clinic, one in Galway the other in Kenmare, where they filled out a paper, were seen within 15 minutes and were sent on their way with advice or an antibiotic (which we determined we couldn't get from a pharmacist without a prescription). In Galway my daughter in law was charged 50€ and this included a lab test. In Kenmare my husband was charged 60€. Both were paid on the spot with a credit card as we left. In both cases SouthDoc was also available if they needed to be seen by a doctor outside of normal hours. It was a wonderful system.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5573 posts
NHS GP surgery and A&E care is still free in the UK to all visitors. It is hospital care that is chargeable, at 150% of the appropriate national scale rate. It may be that the 'clinic' treatment would be classified within one or other of these free categories in the circumstances.
Incidentally the leaflet linked to is for NHS Scotland - services can differ a bit elsewhere.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
my partner learned from two women at a pub . . . .
Welcome to England!
Posted by
Portland
3670 posts
I can't vouch for now; but in 1994/5, when I was an exchange teacher in London, some of the other exchange teachers who had small children voiced astonishment that NHS doctors would make house calls. My daughter, doing a university year abroad in France, in 1990/1, benefitted from the French practice of house calls when she had the flu and was too sick to ride public transport to the doctor's office.
If most Americans only knew what we're missing.
Posted by
Edinburgh
2734 posts
yes the NHS system is indeed amazing, I worked for the NHS for many years and now work in a support roll in a medical school.
It is free at source to all though people form outside the UK should be paying for hospital treatment .It is however not free for those of us that work in the UK , we pay for it through National insurance contributions and taxes and for me that is around £300 per month,it is based on what you earn and not on the individual. this social medicine system seems to the majority of Americans as something completely at odds with the American ideal but when they actually have to use it and see it in action and the amazing benefits of the system they realise how good it is.