Which area has the "best" healthcare?

Hi everyone I am curious about some stuff regarding healthcare in the UK.

I am not really sure how it works..  is everything free? Including e.r visits?  Or do you have to pay for some things as well? Such as prescriptions?  Can you visit anytime u want? As many times as you want? 

Are certain parts of the UK worse ? Like longer wait times, ect.  Or are there certain parts of the UK that have better reputation when it comes to health care?  I am really interested in this, because my fiancé and I haven't decided where to live when we finally get together, so I am researching different areas.   

I am not really sure how it works..  is everything free? Including e.r visits?  Or do you have to pay for some things as well? Such as prescriptions?  Can you visit anytime u want? As many times as you want? 

As you will be paying the NHS surcharge as part of your visa fees, you will be able to get 'free' NHS treatment in the UK.

- All doctors' appointments will be free
- All hospital stays and treatment will be free
- If you live in Scotland or Wales, all prescriptions are free
- If you live in England, presciptions are a set fee per item on the script (currently £8.20), unless you qualify for an exemption (i.e. people with certain conditions qualify for free prescriptions)
- Prescriptions for birth control are free to everyone
- You will need to pay for dental care, but if you go with an NHS dentist it's cheaper than paying for private care
- All healthcare for your child will be free, even prescriptions, dental treatment and opticians appointments (you can also get free glasses for kids, but the selection of frames offered for free isn't that great)

You can visit a doctor as often as you need to, although they are busy, so you don't want to waste their time... i.e. only go if you really need to and it's for something that you can't just ask a pharmacist about

Are certain parts of the UK worse ? Like longer wait times, ect.  Or are there certain parts of the UK that have better reputation when it comes to health care?  I am really interested in this, because my fiancé and I haven't decided where to live when we finally get together, so I am researching different areas.

Yes, there are some areas with faster waiting times than others or that are better at getting things sorted for you, but I couldn't tell you where those areas are, because I have no idea.

There are even different doctors within the same area that may be considered better or worse than others, so it's really more of a trial and error to see where you are happy being registered. A lot of doctors have 'catchment areas' and they will only register patients who live within the area they serve.

I think the general expectation is that the best hospitals would be teaching hospitals in the large urban areas, certainly for any really serious problems.  But if you were living outside the city you would probably be referred to one of these. 

You can visit a doctor as often as you need to, although they are busy, so you don't want to waste their time... i.e. only go if you really need to and it's for something that you can't just ask a pharmacist about

KS, I'm beginning to think that we may be coming from opposite ends of the political spectrum.....which is fine.

But doctors aren't busy because people go too much. There aren't enough of them. The NHS, for almost a decade, has been starved of funding. Stealth privatisation is sucking immense amounts of funding out of the system.  Private finance initiatives(PFIs) gobble up funding from surrounding public institutions.

http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/health-data.htm

I may be coming off as a bit of a-hole about these things, but the situation has arisen where topics like this are being defined incorrectly. The default positions beg the question, the very starting points are skewed.

OK, if you feel you need to, go to the doctor....that is what they are there for. The NHS has a phone line (just dial 111) and a trained adviser can help you decide where to best access treatment.

Sonofasailor, I think ksand24 might have just been mentioning it because of the push to stop/reduce unnecessary trips to Drs/A+E ......which is certainly a problem. http://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/Health-Care-News/nhs-alliance-calls-for-better-system-integration-to-reduce-unnecessary-gp-appointments  While trying to cut down on people taking unnecessary trips to Drs/A+E......I very much agree that some funding needs to be freed up to add to the NHS.

But back to the original poster......I am in no way very knowledgable....but as an example, I am thinking about letting go of my US Health insurance since I have been happy enough with the medical treatment I have received in this area (Harrogate, + my step daughter is a nurse at Jimmy's in Leeds). But....having talked to people who have lived in other areas it can be pretty iffy. I have a hip issue (not serious) that I am thinking about getting looked at/operated on (minor tears in Labrum in hip). If I go through the NHS I wouldn't think it would get seen to very quick.....I can walk fine+golf etc.....that puts me well down on any NHS list and may take millions of years to get help for. Keeping my US health insurance means I can go ahead and line something up privately (kind of like BUPA here). I had a calf/achilles operation about 5 years ago this way.

GP's are super stretched - no doubt.  But I hear friends speak about not being able to get into the GP if their child is sick and so they go to A&E.  Doesn't seem like a good use of A&E if it's something that can be sorted with antibiotics.   

One of the things that bothers me about the NHS here...  NHS operating theatres/MRI's/Hospital facilities can be used by private insurance here.  Shouldn't those facilities be used to speed up the services offered on the NHS?

Yes, I only meant that you shouldn't go to the doctor unnecessarily because there is a lot of stuff that can be treated by pharmacists (I worked in a pharmacy for several years) and help can be sought through NHS direct/111 without actually needing to visit the doctor.

Nothing political involved, nothing about the NHS being underfunded or not having enough doctors... It was purely just a mention that doctors are often stretched for time during their work day and it's helpful if you only make appointments for things that are necessary to be looked at by a doctor, and not for every little thing that could easily be sorted out at home or at a pharmacy.


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I can tell you that the worst care you can possibly receive under the NHS is miles better than what I had when I lived in the US.  I had no insurance and basically just had to go to the emergency room and hope for the best. 

The NHS is one of the few things that the British have done right.  I don't think you have to worry about small regional differences in care, the NHS care will be fine no matter where you live.


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I can tell you that the worst care you can possibly receive under the NHS is miles better than what I had when I lived in the US.  I had no insurance and basically just had to go to the emergency room and hope for the best. 

The NHS is one of the few things that the British have done right.  I don't think you have to worry about small regional differences in care, the NHS care will be fine no matter where you live.


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I think this is one of those "Your mileage may vary".  I haven't had any issues with healthcare in the UK, but there is no denying the cancer death rates here are super high for a first world country due to wait times for diagnosis.  I know there are active measures in place to reduce this statistic which is good.

I'll second ksand's posting about pharmacists. I had routine bacterial conjunctivitis this summer and after speaking to the lady at the front desk at my GP she informed me that the pharmacy could just give me something straight away. So I headed to the co-op that's connected to my GP and they handed me a mild antibiotic and got me sorted. No need to wait for the GP.

As for the cancer treatment times, I do find that stuff a little bit scary. Though Wales is meant to be the worst in this area, a family friend just recently got diagnosed with colon cancer and her op was scheduled within a week. So it's very much YMMV even within the same area.


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Just for the heck of it.....my wife and I were just discussing this (and whether I will drop the US insurance this year or next).......her point is the US system really sucks because you pay so much for the health insurance...and then have to pay more anyway when you actually get the help. I asked her how much she paid here in the UK....she couldn't remember. When I looked..... if I have it right it's 12% of your pay for most people (nothing if you don't make much)....not sure I read that right though. But if so that's more than I'm paying for my US health insurance....by quite a way. Granted....the extra money you have to kick in upon treatment varies but I only rarely go to the Dr.

jimbocz- if you are working here in the UK.....you are paying for it. Unlike most places in the US, you don't have to pay for it afterwards......it's kind of like my US health insurance which I get through my work (which I carried over into retired)......they take the money out of my pension before I ever see it. It doesn't hurt so much that way.......   I'm in no way zapping the NHS, they have treated me pretty well in the years I have been here.

I wonder if the original poster is worried about the standard of the NHS because of the Republican scare campaign during The obamacare debate.  They had America convinced that everyone in the UK hated the NHS and wanted an insurance company to handle all the finances


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I would argue that large urban areas are where you don't want to go for treatment due to overstretched/overcrowded/underfunded services. I live in a small town with a hospital and several GP surgeries. I'm always able to see my GP within a few days of calling for an appointment,  and wait times to see a consultant at the hospital haven't been unreasonable. I haven't had any life threatening illnesses (touch wood) but I've been getting treatment for a thyroid condition for the past few months and have been really pleased with the quality of care and the time and attention I've had from all the people I've interacted with in the NHS. It is particularly remarkable for me because I went years without health insurance in the US and just got in the habit of not going to the doctor for any reason. If I still lived in the US, I'd probably have untreated and worsening heart damage caused by overactive thyroid. Thank God/Allah/Jehovah/Flying Spaghetti Monster for the National Health Service, I say.

Funny, I live in London and have the same experience as you .  I can always get a gp appointment when needed and any big medical stuff like births and MRIs happened in a timely manner.  I would have thought that rural areas would be where care was stretched thin. 

Glad your thyroid is ok!

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One of the reasons I get a bit wiggy about this is this possible looming disaster:

"Public services, especially the NHS, are in the firing line. One of the main aims of TTIP is to open up Europe’s public health, education and water services to US companies. This could essentially mean the privatisation of the NHS."

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html

I can't decide whether this is some sort of Illuminati-like conspiracy theory nonsense, or an actual threat. But I can't help imagining big global medical companies drooling over the possibility of getting their hands on the NHS.