National Healthcare System

When you realize you are going to be out of your homeland for awhile, you start thinking of things you need to do to prepare. I have now scheduled physicals and annual appointments for everyone in my family, for everything I can think of –most of these are falling earlier than they would normally in the calendar year, but I have a comfort level with our doctors here in our hometown. I want our healthcare providers to do our physicals, dental and eye appointments before we leave. We are moving into the land of the NHS (National Healthcare System) and I am not entirely sure how it works, or how easy it is to navigate. I have heard mixed reviews about the NHS from the expat websites I am using for a lot of my research. While I think there are definite advantages to how the UK health system works, there are also probably going to be some disadvantages, especially early on –not knowing how to find the right doctors being the first one. One thing I need to figure out right away –what happens if we need to take the girls to an emergency appointment? Also, I have a prescription medication that I take monthly, how do I get this filled? I have requested digital medical records for the girls from their pediatrician; I am just waiting on the CD’s to be ready for pickup. While we are in England, I will need to be able to provide the vaccine records for the girls, especially for Bean’s new school. Fortunately, Bean just had all of her booster shots in October when she turned 5, and will not need any more until age 10. Gerbie had her last round of shots at 18 months, and will not need any until she turns 5. That timing worked out well, and aside from annual flu shots, we won’t need any other vaccines for them until we return. There are so many things to think about when you are going to move, even more things to think about when the move is overseas!