My husband is thinking of applying for a scholarship to study law in London for a year and before we go through the application process for that I wanted to try to find answers to some of the concerns I have. I have an existing condition (Crohn's Disease) and have to be on medication at all times and see a doctor reguarly. My question is, how fast if we are there on a student visa would I be able to get healthcare coverage? How long did it take you all to get into the system? Does anyone have Crohn's Disease, if so what type of treatment are you on? Sorry for all the questions and thank you for your help!
As the others said, you should get care right away (if you'll be here for a year) and there are no pre-existing rules. You will go to a GP in your area who is accepting new patients and ask to register. A nurse will take your history and then you're free to start seeing the doctor. I would advise finding a GP that is familiar with Crohn's and you'll want to bring a full medical history with you. I would also suggest bringing enough meds to tide you over in case you run into problems.
Your GP may or may not refer you to a specialist--I'd ask and be sure that either the GP is experienced in this area or will refer you.
A lot of meds are UK only or US only--sometimes they go by different names and sometimes they are either not approved for use or not approved for coverage. You'll want to see if yours are, or decide if you are willing to follow the NHS protocal (which may or may not be the same as your current care/meds). You might look for a UK based Crohn's website for more info.
We have one friend with Crohn's. He lives in Swansea Wales and has had one bowel surgery and is waiting another to remove partial large intestine and scar tissue. He's on morphine for pain and has been waiting nearly 2 years for the surgery. The care he receives is good, but involves lots of waiting, in this case he'll have the surgery as soon as the consultant (surgeon) and the hospital have an opening. This may or may not be the case in the area in which you live. I don't mean to scare you--just a caution if you have an advanced stage of the disease.
One medicine that my daughter takes for asthma is no longer available on the NHS--they have a standard list of approved meds for each ailment/disease. As such, we get it in the US as her US doc prescribed it. However, our UK doctor is happy to have her on it and to monitor her--he is familiar with the drug despite it not being widely used here. Our doctor prior to this wanted her to use the baseline treatment that did not work(we tried it for 3 months)--we then switched doctors and brought copies of her medical records.
In sum, you will receive cover and moving to the UK will be a wonderful experience for you. Just be sure to do some research up front and be willing to spend some time chasing info once you arrive.
