Private insurance + NHS

How does NHS and private insurance work? My husband and I (and our daughter) will have private insurance (provided through hubby's job) but we've advised to register with NHS to get a GP regardless of whether we want to use NHS or private insurance. Basically, I'm curious to find out:
how easy it is to see a GP with NHS vs. private insurance. I've heard/read that sometimes there is a wait to see a GP with NHS.
is there a co-pay (like there is in the US) when dealing with private insurance GP
does a GP see infants as well or we we need to find a pediatrician
can we switch between NHS and private insurance providers

Everyone must register with a GP if they want medical care... you go through your NHS GP for regular doctor's appointments and prescriptions. The longest I have ever had to wait to make a GP appointment has been 24 hours and I am usually in and out of the appointment within 15 minutes.

If you want to use private insurance, you need to get a referral from your NHS GP first. All primary care and emergency care is covered for free on the NHS, so private insurance is usually only good for skipping waiting lists for non-emergency operations, for seeing a specialist after seeing your GP and for getting elective surgery that is not covered by the NHS.

Children and adults see the GP for medical care. All prescriptions are free for children under the age of 16 and for everyone in Scotland and Wales. In England, each item on a prescription costs £7.65 unless you are exempt from paying prescription charges. All birth control is free. All GP appointments are free and hospital care is free.

Private insurance is usually an optional extra that you can pay for if you want to, but honestly, you probably won't need to use it on a regular basis.

It will depend on your insurance and how it works in the UK. In some areas here are private GPs who accept insurance, and private hospitals that you can visit without accessing the NHS for a referral. We have a worldwide insurance policy (from the US employer) which allows us to self refer to specialists at local private hospitals in the UK, and we can visit either the private GP or the regular GP, whichever is most convenient.

If you have a UK policy with, for example, BUPA, I  believe you do need to visit the NHS GP for everyday care but you can self refer to a specialist. Your GP will treat your child so you don't need to find a pediatrician. There may be a GP at the surgery/health centre who specialises in children but, in general, your GP will treat the whole family.

What ksand24 is referring to is if you have a non-urgent condition and don't want to wait for treatment. It is possible to visit the GP for a referral, see a specialist privately, and pay for private treatment, thus eliminating the NHS waiting list. This is not the same as having insurance.

It will depend on your insurance and how it works in the UK. In some areas here are private GPs who accept insurance, and private hospitals that you can visit without accessing the NHS for a referral. We have a worldwide insurance policy (from the US employer) which allows us to self refer to specialists at local private hospitals in the UK, and we can visit either the private GP or the regular GP, whichever is most convenient.

We had the same situation -- US-based global insurance covered by a US employer.  We didn't need to use the NHS for referrals under our insurance, so we used a private pediatrician for our little guy, but that was our choice.

However, we were all registered at our local NHS GP, and there was no issue using both.

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so we used a private pediatrician for our little guy, but that was our choice.

How were you able to do this? We've registered with NHS anyway but it would be nice to have a pediatrician.

We found our pediatrician through the Portland hospital, where my son was born.  We really love him -- John Fysh.

As mentioned, we had US insurance -- through a US insurance company -- so we paid for appointments up front and then got reimbursed.


ETA: edited to emphasize that it was a US insurance company.  I don't know anything about UK plans at all.  So definitely check your coverage.  Private appointments are pricey, as are prescriptions.  Our little guy had pretty extreme reflux and feeding issues.

You need to check with your husband's employer as to the coverage provided by the private insurance.

When we last lived in the UK my husband's employer provided BUPA coverage for him, and he paid an extra amount each month to cover myself and the children.
Our coverage, which was pretty typical of most private insurance policies in the UK, covered us for specialist appointments and operations, both in NHS hospitals and private hospitals.

If you find your insurance is similar to the above you won't be able to take your child to see a paediatrician, although I suppose if you are that worried you could pay for private appointments, but any prescriptions written by a private doctor are not filled at the NHS rate of £7.65.

Don't worry though, NHS GPs are well experienced and there may be a couple of doctors in your practice who specialise in seeing children. I liked the fact that the whole family was seen by the same doctor, we built up a relationship over the years and it helped that, when taking the children to see the doctor, she knew that I wasn't an over protective mother.

We had a BUPA policy in the UK, provided by a UK firm , and we did not have to go through the NHS but could self refer by phone.  WE lived in London and found it to be invaluable as there we sometimes waited 3 days for an  appointment with GP.  Our GP did not do any regular check-ups for children, so we were often able to get  our checkups for the children when they had any other issue to be handled by our private pediatrician.  We did not use the NHS while we had the BUPA policy, and it was nice not to have the hassle!  It's worth checking what comes with the job, for sure!