NHS in other than Scotland

Assuming I end up in somewhere other than Scotland, is it possible to pay the surcharge to use the NHS? I would be there as Irish, so the usual visa formalities would not apply.  (I will have private insurance, but the charge for NHS is so low compared to what I am paying now that it might be good to do if it can be done.)

Assuming I end up in somewhere other than Scotland, is it possible to pay the surcharge to use the NHS? I would be there as Irish, so the usual visa formalities would not apply.  (I will have private insurance, but the charge for NHS is so low compared to what I am paying now that it might be good to do if it can be done.)

Yes, no problem in paying the NHS surcharge in England. Our daughter’s partner moved here almost 2 years ago and elected to pay 3 years of the NHS surcharge when he got his visa. Good choice for him because it went up a fair chunk since. Note that in England under 60s have to pay a prescription charge.

Our daughter went onto HRT last week and when she went into Boots to get her first prescription filled they told her that she can get a long term prescription like that very cheaply. The person produced a form with a QR code which my daughter scanned using her phone and completed the online form there and then. £19.80 per year

That's amazing on the prescription! It's less than the co-pay I have for a month's worth of stomach acid reducers.

I did poke around in the regs a bit, to get away from seeing the latest coming down from DC, and found language that says there is no charge for NHS for Irish persons, but I'm not sure I'm reading it correctly. Either way, it's doable so that's one box ticked off. Thanks.

That's amazing on the prescription! It's less than the co-pay I have for a month's worth of stomach acid reducers.

I did poke around in the regs a bit, to get away from seeing the latest coming down from DC, and found language that says there is no charge for NHS for Irish persons, but I'm not sure I'm reading it correctly. Either way, it's doable so that's one box ticked off. Thanks.

That sounds great on no NHS surcharge for Irish citizens and sounds correct to me.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-travel-area-guidance

Details
The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Ireland that pre-dates both British and Irish membership of the EU and is not dependent on it.

Under the CTA, British and Irish citizens can move freely and reside in either jurisdiction and enjoy associated rights and privileges, including the right to work, study and vote in certain elections, as well as to access social welfare benefits and health services.

The UK and Irish governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in May 2019 reaffirming our commitment to maintain the CTA, and the associated rights and privileges, in all circumstances. On signing the MoU, both governments released a Joint Statement.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-uk-and-ireland-on-the-cta

Well coolies. But if that goes away, I'd be happy to pay the surcharge. 

I am wondering if the Daughter would be happier in England than Scotland? She LOVES London (the vibe, she says, from all the different ethnicities living there), but I don't think we could afford to really live there.  Is there some other relatively cosmopolitan area of England that might be kind of like a "little London" that actually might have mid-management level work available?  Most of her actual work experience is in higher education (university) here. I know the job market is not good there right now.

Well coolies. But if that goes away, I'd be happy to pay the surcharge. 

I am wondering if the Daughter would be happier in England than Scotland? She LOVES London (the vibe, she says, from all the different ethnicities living there), but I don't think we could afford to really live there.  Is there some other relatively cosmopolitan area of England that might be kind of like a "little London" that actually might have mid-management level work available?  Most of her actual work experience is in higher education (university) here.

I'm afraid others will have to advise here.  My entire life in England has been in small towns and villages so I can't comment on living in metropolitan cities never having lived in one apart from in Bradford/Leeds where I was a student at university in the 1970s.

Thanks anyway. 

I'm thinking that, really, larger cities are not terribly far from anywhere in the country, so even if we were somewhere that she could get into one within an hour it wouldn't be awful for her. We've been to England several times and it's lovely, for the most part, but we were there as tourists and that's waaaay different than living there.

I prefer a more rural area, to tell you the truth, but I'm not going to condemn the kid to watching sheep when she'd really rather be at a coffee shop with friends or having to walk three miles to get to a coffee shop (etc.).  I know that in Scotland there's a real shortage of housing in the more rural/semi-rural areas, so if that holds in the rest of the UK it'd be what determines where we might end up anyway. I also don't want to put us somewhere that would be hostile to her not being "English" (or "Welsh", etc.).  Or somewhere that we have hell understanding the locals - some of those East Side folks in Glasgow were almost completely unintelligible and I found dealing with that much harder than I thought it would be.

Probably would do best to look for places where work was likely to be available and then back out of it all from there. And healthcare needs to be decent - I know about the postcode lottery, so that'd have to figure in.  But that's a long way (I hope) away yet and a lot can change between now and then.

Well coolies. But if that goes away, I'd be happy to pay the surcharge. 

I am wondering if the Daughter would be happier in England than Scotland? She LOVES London (the vibe, she says, from all the different ethnicities living there), but I don't think we could afford to really live there.  Is there some other relatively cosmopolitan area of England that might be kind of like a "little London" that actually might have mid-management level work available?  Most of her actual work experience is in higher education (university) here. I know the job market is not good there right now.

  How about Brighton?  Very cosmopolitan and pleasant. 

Thanks, I'll investigate that!

So much is still up in the air, and this is only going to be doable if either her Irish citizenship comes through (we found a letter in the files from the Irish naturalization folks dated 2019 saying that it should be only about six to eight weeks  until we had a decision), if a "listed" job there comes through, or if the UK relaxes who I can bring in as a dependent. All of which I doubt will happen.

Even in pre-WW2 they didn't necessarily let people who were in danger of being killed by the Nazis in, so I don't see that I have a case for throwing us on the mercy of the UK government to let her stay with me there just because I want to live there instead of here.    There are people now who are in mortal danger who are turned away. If anything they should have a shot at it before I do. But, again, we'll see what happens. I would not turn it down if it came to that.

  How about Brighton?  Very cosmopolitan and pleasant.

Brighton's lovely. We thought about moving there but we found the seagulls too noisy 

I am a university person in Glasgow - and I would think if one likes good size cities and London is not an option, then Glasgow is a 2nd best. It is a bit rough, but very dynamic - so good for young people who are not over-concerned with "nice and safe and smooth" atmosphere. And it is cheap for a city of such size. Not very cosmopolitan though, but still OK.
But as a university person I d'tell you - nowadays one first finds a job wherever it is available and then starts thinking about where to live in the vicinity of the university one lands in. It is definitely true for academic staff, now it is also becoming true for admin/management staff.

I am a university person in Glasgow - and I would think if one likes good size cities and London is not an option, then Glasgow is a 2nd best. It is a bit rough, but very dynamic - so good for young people who are not over-concerned with "nice and safe and smooth" atmosphere. And it is cheap for a city of such size. Not very cosmopolitan though, but still OK.
But as a university person I d'tell you - nowadays one first finds a job wherever it is available and then starts thinking about where to live in the vicinity of the university one lands in. It is definitely true for academic staff, now it is also becoming true for admin/management staff.

We do like that area and have good friends who have lived in Ayr for over 30 years. We are going to stay with them again for a week at the end of this month.  It is only an hour on the train into the center of Glasgow from Ayr where we do enjoy visiting.  Ayr itself is a lovely place to live.

I am a university person in Glasgow - and I would think if one likes good size cities and London is not an option, then Glasgow is a 2nd best. It is a bit rough, but very dynamic - so good for young people who are not over-concerned with "nice and safe and smooth" atmosphere. And it is cheap for a city of such size. Not very cosmopolitan though, but still OK.
But as a university person I d'tell you - nowadays one first finds a job wherever it is available and then starts thinking about where to live in the vicinity of the university one lands in. It is definitely true for academic staff, now it is also becoming true for admin/management staff.

Thanks for writing. Yes, we lived in Glasgow for several years, and lived quite decently on my retirement pay. I really enjoyed it. The daughter, not so much. Edinburgh she likes.

We do like that area and have good friends who have lived in Ayr for over 30 years. We are going to stay with them again for a week at the end of this month.  It is only an hour on the train into the center of Glasgow from Ayr where we do enjoy visiting.  Ayr itself is a lovely place to live.

Ayr. That sounds familiar. But I think I'm confusing it with Alloway, which seemed a pleasant place. What would be ideal would be if she could get a remote or partially remote working position. A weekly train trip "into town" might serve to provide the "cultural" needs she has. But that's waaay down the line. 

Ayr. That sounds familiar. But I think I'm confusing it with Alloway, which seemed a pleasant place. What would be ideal would be if she could get a remote or partially remote working position. A weekly train trip "into town" might serve to provide the "cultural" needs she has. But that's waaay down the line. 

The last time we stayed with our friends in Ayr we walked from their place (on the beach road) to Brig o Doon which is in Alloway I believe.