Gawd bless the NHS, and all who sail in her.

This week I thought I'd offer some real-time information to anyone reading this with the intention of moving out to the region.

Unless things have changed dramatically since we left the old country (sorry, countries), the NHS is often a hot topic in the news.  I think I'm right in saying there are only three stories about it but they keep on coming round the carousel.

Story 1 - The NHS is underfunded and therefore nurses and junior doctors are working 25 hour days for nothing more than a cup of gruel and a good thrashing should they complain.

Story 2 - The NHS is underfunded and therefore waiting times in A&E are now so long that they recently found the skeleton of King Harold in Hastings Royal Infirmary holding an arrow in one hand and a ticket with number 5956 in the other.  The red electronic display board read 'now serving - 5955'.

Story 3 - The NHS is underfunded however there are now 25 managers for each cleaner and the management structure diagram looks like an inverted pyramid.

In some foreign climes they circumnavigate this thorny problem by following more simple route, they have no free health care at all.  No cash, no doctor.  Fortunately we receive medial insurance via our work, and for the less fortunate the government run hospital here is not too expensive, I think a visit to A & E is about £10, and from our experience it is very good.  I say 'government run' because there are two hospitals, side by side, and the second is part of a Swiss medical group, a visit to A & E here is about £17.50, even with your insurance.

We've visited the private one a few times lately, not for anything serious but just for check ups on minor ailments, so we've had the opportunity to compare and contrast with the UK system.

Your first impression when you get there is that the hospital is actually more like a 5 star hotel.  They have valet parking for goodness sake and if you're going in for a stay, a bell-hop takes your luggage in on a hotel style domed trolly.  You then enter the well appointed reception and the initial thing they ask for is your insurance card.  I don't know what they'd do if you didn't have one?  Whether they would ask for cash up front or gamble on you doing a runner after your treatment?  I guess if you couldn't prove your ability to pay they would send you round the corner to the state hospital and get you to ask for mercy?  

Once you've seen the medical practitioner you pay up, and as the song goes 'the bigger the headache, the bigger the pill.  The bigger the doctor, the bigger the bill'.  His consultation is about £10, but bear in mind with all these costings that they are 20% of the full price as our insurance covers the rest, so the real cost is about £50.  A collection of four blood tests costs us about £17.50, after which you can telephone the physician and if the results require no further investigation or no medication that's it.  If they do need more consideration you have to pay for another consultation.

Here is one big difference.  You see the doctor, he recommends blood tests which you take immediately in a nearby room.  They then test them on site and text you to say they are ready for collection, often the same day or the next morning at the latest, all very quick.  In the UK it used to take a week to get the results of tests, but we weren't paying up front for that, we had been paying since starting work.  Overall the system here seems to work well, just as the NHS seems to work well for most people back home, with the huge difference being in the payment method.  I guess the system in the UK and much of Europe is far more socially inclusive and in the UK being free at source, removes any worries people may have about getting advice on their problems.

The rule of thumb seems to be that if you are thinking of working abroad make sure that your employer is offering medical insurance as part of the deal.  Ours does not cover dental and we are about to visit the dentist for the first time, I'll let you know how that works out!

Next week I thought I'd write a blog based on a 10cc lyric, 'Good morning judge how are you today?', 'Life is a minestrone'?  No, I think I'll go with 'I don't like cricket, I love it'..!