In case you get sick in England on a weekend....

Wow. Great tip. Great service. Too bad we don't have that in this country.

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

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.

I think JC is correct. And the B&B owner is an idiot!

It's only free for UK residents with National Insurance records (which can include foreigners including EU who are RESIDENTS and have joined NI).
Plus some temporary VISITORS: European nationals with a reciprocal agreement EHIC card and nationals of a few other countries (notably AUS and NZ) plus some but not all UK Crown dependencies.

You should have been charged a fee, although it would have been a lot smaller than in the USA. The problem is the people who treated you would have dealt with so few non-entitled patients they wouldn't know how to charge, or they would know but the facility wouldn't be available. Or in your case, the bill might have been so small that it would cost more to do the accounts so was waived.

If you had been treated in a place more experience with this sort of thing you may have been billed. So before you all think you can visit the UK without health insurance, think again! And if your domestic insurers say they would be happy to cover you whilst in the UK (which they would, the bills would be smaller) bear in mind you may need specialist transport to get back home.

You're not the only Americans who think the NHS is good (ignore Fox). http://www.commonwealthfund.org/interactives/2017/july/mirror-mirror/

The best advice for seeking help is:
feeling a bit off, not really sure? try a pharmacist, most have someone who can give basic advice. And many large supermarkets with long opening hours have one. They are part of the front line response, if they think you need to be escalated they will.

you already know something is wrong (and just want advice) or you need to see a doctor and can't find one (or one that is open)? Dial 111

need a paramedic to come screaming across town on blue lights and sirens? Dial 999 - in case of any symptons of heart attack or stroke this is your first action, forget 111

999 is the national emergency number and even most brits don't know how it actually works. Works from any networked phone in UK, including foreign cells attached to a UK network (if you are on the Dover cliffs, make sure it hasn't roamed to a French network, in Northern Ireland make sure it hasn't gone to Republic network). You are connected to an emergency operator (usually at British Telecom) WHO COULD BE ANYWHERE IN THE UK. They always say "Emergency, which service do you require?" You have the choice, ambulance, fire, police (emergency only), coast guard, mountain rescue. You can ask for more than one and say which order you want them. The operator will connect you based on the area code of a land line or the location of the cell mast. If using something like a Cisco internet based private network you may have a problem if the inward number doesn't have a local area code, use a cell instead. When the ambulance (etc.) controller answers, the operator will introduce you by giving your number so they have a record, then you speak.

Sadly, the various control rooms are often covering quite a large area and have little local knowledge, post codes enter the conversation very quickly. But don't worry, look around you for buildings with nameboards - churches, hotels, independent shops with unique names, railway stations, even bus stops (if you look many have a name).

If you asked for two or more services (say ambulance followed by police for a car crash) the emergency operator will queue the next whilst you are talking and will hand you over when ready.

Don't use 999 for non urgent police, that number is 101. Urgent means serious crime, or any crime in progress (or just disturbed) or road crashes. So if you disturb someone breaking into your car and have seen him run away you dial 999, if you come to it and find it was broken into sometime during the night you dial 101.

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.

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.

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.

my partner learned from two women at a pub . . . .

Welcome to England!

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.

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.