Moving to UK with pre-existing condition and treatment plan

My spouse and I are planning to move to the UK on work visas by the end of the year.

She has been diagnosed with stage 3a melanoma.  She is doing great but is undergoing immunotherapy here in the States.  The therapy requires transfusions every 3-weeks for 12 months.  When we move to the UK she will need to carry on this treatment, without disruption.

Is anyone aware of a mechanism in the NHS that can give us confidence prior to moving that this care for a pre-existing condition, and treatment plan, can be seamlessly picked up upon landing in the UK?

Thanks everyone!

I’d ask your employer to arrange for you to have a consultant explain how oncology care transfers. 

You could even start by calling the oncology department of a hospital in the area you hope to settle.

Big hugs!  You’ll want to sort this before the move, for obvious reasons.

I'd recommend contacting Macmillan, it's the largest cancer charity here.

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

I'd be concerned there is no guarantee the same medications will be available, and getting set up with the NHS may take longer than 3 weeks. Private healthcare also doesn't cover preexisting conditions if your employer is including that in your package.

You can check for the drug availability here: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/

Good luck. My husband is also on immunotherapy and he has been waiting for nearly 2 years to get an appointment with the NHS.

Instead he has just been flying back to the USA every 3 months to get his treatment. During lockdown we attempted to go through private, but it was very expensive and we would need to pay list price for the medicine. In total for the year it comes out to over £10k.

If I were you, I would first check if your employers will cover PHI and if that includes pre-existing conditions AND the cost of medication/treatments. If not I would strongly encourage you to consider postponing your move to the UK if you can until your spouse is healthy.