Relocating to the UK and would like some advice on NHS.. How effective is it? Is it reliable, or do people (obvs who can afford it) opt for private healthcare insurance? Context - My medical needs are above average with two chronic conditions requiring frequent specialist appointments

TIA :)

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NHS and Uk medical system gets a bad rant but I lived here for 10+ years and love it.

80% of companies (and probably 100% of consulting firms) provide you with additional medical insurance that allows to see specialists/consultants after getting a GP referral. Any NHS GP will give you a private referral in a minute as it costs nothing to them and gets you off NHS resources. If you are too lazy to go to them or call them you can use Babylon for a referral (virtual GP).

Having said that if you have a diagnosed condition I would recommend trying to get a referral to a NHS consultant (should be easy if you are already diagnosed) - they are out of this world amazing and all your treatments/ prescriptions will be 100% free. As an alternative find a good NHS consultant and see where they work privately (most do) - then use your work insurance.

Also if you have kids in the Uk - NHS is beyond amazing, find a good GP surgery with family GPs, a good pediatríc A&E nearby and you will be fine.

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My opinion as a foreigner, it works but isn't great. Long queues and snobby attitudes are common. My advice is to just shell out for private insurance which is reasonably priced, it's about £600-700/yr for me on company plans (am healthy and in late 20s). A lot of companies offer it as an optional benefit but you do pay the tax on it as it gets included in taxable income.

smart

Great for emergencies. Terrible for long term treatment, with some long waiting times for routine surgeries - exacerbated by Covid.

Worth getting private health insurance if you can afford it.

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In my experience, good for emergency treatment (E.g. you broke your arm) and for ongoing treatment if it’s simple to understand (E.g. you need insulin or epilepsy meds regularly).
Anything that is complicated to diagnose (e.g. gut issues, neurological issues) they are very poor at and often try and dismiss. There are also long wait times for anything not life threatening, so even if you are in your son or discomfort you can end up waiting months to be seen by a specialist.
I’d suggest having private if you can as it’s really not a huge amount, and often an employer will subsidise the cost (or pay everything but tax).

helpful

Check if you company already does not provide private healthcare - mine did and I never bothered with NHS. Got to specialists within days many times Vs waiting months on NHS.

Most companies have private and just need to be referred by your GP. That’s what I do

It depends also on the chronic conditions (NHS can be great at some of these) and on the insurance plan. Employers have been cutting back and so providers like BUPA have some pretty heavy triaging of what they will pay for (I found it heavy, maybe by US standards it’s not). Pre-existing conditions can be excluded in private cover so I suggest you do some more detailed research.

Just to add to complexity: NHS in/around London is hard hit by staff shortages, hence the wait times. Go North and no one bothers with private insurance because the NHS is better.

helpful

Depends what your chronic conditions are. The trusts in/near London are great, some pioneering, but it really depends on how much funding/resources go into your conditions.

Regardless of whether you go NHS or private for your specialist appointments, your primary POC for care will be your NHS GP.

If you have any choice at all about where you live, research GPs and move near a good surgery so you can get good primary care.

(Private GPs are few and far between outside places which cater specifically to stupid rich foreigners.)

You do realise that “stupid rich foreigners” going to private GPs lead to shorter wait times in NHS for “smart but poor natives”, right..? Also they allow additional income for NHS GPs who make £80K a year after killing themselves during medical training for 10-15K and earning peanuts.
Ironically a lot of GPs I know are foreigners as well so have some respect please.

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Get private for specialists and use Babylon Health for your NHS GP, which you’ll primarily use for referrals to private specialists.

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