Looking for a GP in the Marylebone area

Hi everyone. My husband (Irish citizen) and I (American) moved to London in May of 09.  He is working and I am covered under his private health insurance. I have my own health care insurance card and I have an NI#. I am not working yet as I have to still find a job. Will this effect my ability to see a GP? I have a spouse visa.

I really need to get 2 prescriptions filled ASAP as they are meds that I take daily. Will I be fully covered or expected to pay something?

Does anyone know where I can find a good GP in the Marylebone area? I hear this is a great area for top of the line physicians but I have no idea how, who and where to get an appointment.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bridget

Hi everyone. My husband (Irish citizen) and I (American) moved to London in May of 09.  He is working and I am covered under his private health insurance. I have my own health care insurance card and I have an NI#. I am not working yet as I have to still find a job. Will this effect my ability to see a GP? I have a spouse visa.

With a spousal visa, you were eligible to register with and see a GP from the day you arrived in the UK. Even if you have private health insurance, you will still need to be registered with a GP in order to get any kind of treatment or prescriptions as pretty much all healthcare goes through the NHS first (all your private insurance will really do is bump you to the front of the line for non-emergency operations/procedures that would normally have a long waiting list (e.g. hip replacements) or are not covered by the NHS (e.g. elective cosmetic surgeries)... and usually you cannot get private treatment without first being referred by your NHS GP anyway).

I really need to get 2 prescriptions filled ASAP as they are meds that I take daily. Will I be fully covered or expected to pay something?

All NHS prescriptions in England cost £7.20 (per item on prescription... i.e. if you are prescribed two different types of tablet on one prescription, you pay two charges = £14.40) unless you are eligible for free prescriptions (i.e. you are under 16/under 19 and in full-time education/diabetic/pregnant/over 60 etc. or you are prescribed birth control, which is free to all) or you are getting a non-essential prescription (i.e. anti-malaria drugs for travelling), which can cost more.

Does anyone know where I can find a good GP in the Marylebone area? I hear this is a great area for top of the line physicians but I have no idea how, who and where to get an appointment.

Unfortunately, I don't know London very well, so I can't help you with this part .

You can look up GP's at NHS Choices online. You can do a search for GP based on your post code.

Thanks to all for your valuable information. I called today and I they are seeing me today to get registered and then I will make an immediate appointment to see a doctor for my for my prescriptions.

Thanks again!!!!

You're most welcome 

OK, so I went to a GP the other day and I'm all registered with NHS but I have a question. I don't want to sound rude or ignorant so please know that is not at all my intent. I am trying to know how things generally operate here.

I didn't like my doctor at all. I went in and told him of the 2 medications I was taking daily in the US. Are UK doctors really strict about giving meds? One of the drugs is for my chronic insomnia, which has been especially bad lately with the new move and our Irish wedding planning (Irish blessing ceremony).

He was not wanting to prescribe anything for that at all. I don't take it every night but when I am getting little to no sleep for weeks at a time, its necessary. If I were to try a different doctor here would that be any different?

Any advice on this would be great!

I've heard sleeping meds aren't as readily prescribed here as in the US, if at all. So it might not just be your GP but something in the medical profession here. If you have your medical records you might want to take them with you as it could help.

Just a totally off-the-wall comment...

Sherlock Holmes' companion Dr Watson's practice was on Harley Street, right smack in the middle of Marylebone.  The whole street is about a mile long of private doctors.

To topic: I used to go to the NHS clinic in the basement of the Marylebone Parish Church.  It's fine.

If I were to try a different doctor here would that be any different?

Any advice on this would be great!

Probably not.  I have never heard of a UK doctor giving sleeping aids.  I was in the hospital for surgery several months back and couldn't sleep because of the drugs they were pumping in me.  I was so tired I was hallucinating.  When I asked for a sleeping pill to help, you would have thought I asked to eat the doctor's baby.

Probably not.  I have never heard of a UK doctor giving sleeping aids.  I was in the hospital for surgery several months back and couldn't sleep because of the drugs they were pumping in me.  I was so tired I was hallucinating.  When I asked for a sleeping pill to help, you would have thought I asked to eat the doctor's baby.

Same thing happened to me when the drugs they gave me after GA had a too activating effect.

I told them to give me the forms to sign out AMA because if I was going to stay up all night I was going to do it in a hotel where I could get a decent bed, a TV and someone to actually bring food outside set hours (my surgery was pushed back and when I got out, I was told no food as tea had already been served.  Never mind I'd been fasting since midnight the night before).

They coughed up.  After that, I always brought my own.

I have been given sleeping aids,  but only after a history of going 48-72hours with no sleep at all on more than one occasion, and this was after I had been in the UK for a while and had seen my GP for other things, so my GP knows I'm not an addict or anything.

You all are so funny and I appreciate the stories you shared. I thought it was just me but apparently UK GPs must feel that all Americans who need prescription sleep meds are drug addicts. I'm going to be m doctor back in the states to send records of my diagnosed insomnia but I doubt they will take that because of their general views on American doctors.

It sucks for sure because it took me years to find the right medication and now I'm worse off than I have ever been :'(

Probably not.  I have never heard of a UK doctor giving sleeping aids.  I was in the hospital for surgery several months back and couldn't sleep because of the drugs they were pumping in me.  I was so tired I was hallucinating.  When I asked for a sleeping pill to help, you would have thought I asked to eat the doctor's baby.

My GP gave me Zelpidem (Ambien) twice but I needed it for short term relief due to some stressful things I was going through. I seriously doubt she'd give it to me on a permanent basis. Actually, I don't seriously doubt -- I know she will not.

It's not really surprising that UK docs give those kinds of scrips reluctantly. Getting something like that in the US is far from trivial too.