Healthcare

I thought a post about healthcare here would be apt as I realized that yesterday when I posted about Ethan, that I didn't really touch on it.

So, for you UK buddies this is how it all worked...

We have private medical insurance here in the UK. We have Dental, Optical and Medical.

With our medical insurance we have a number we can call if we have questions, much like NHS Live. So, while worrying about Ethan we call this number, of course its never simple. We need to give across our insurance card details, then all our personal details, then employee details etc. After which we still pay $10 before the doctor will call us. An hour later we get a call and basically they advise us to go to Urgent Care.

Urgent Care is kind of like the West Berks A&E. Don't go there its life and death, it isn't open all hours but generally less of a wait than A&E. It is also cheaper! So regardless of the fact that we have medical insurance, we still pay (co-pay) a part of the fee. We arrived at opening time 9am on the dot to Urgent Care. Now don't get me wrong, it was lovely there, leather seats, coffee machine, kids play room, TVs, fireplace etc but you pay! Luckily as we were about the second people there, we didn't wait long, we went from the waiting area to a private triage room where a lovely nurse checked Ethans vitals and took some notes. From there, we went to a private treatment room. They put the TV on for Ethan and  the doctor came and retook all vitals, went over what was wrong etc. They took a sample for testing for the suspected Strep throat and gave him a Ice Lolly (Popsicle) to sooth his throat. The test took five minutes to come back and the diagnosis was swift. Ethans prescription was emailed straight through to the nearest pharmacy where we would pick it up! The staff were amazing and so friendly and we payed a $50 copay for the wonderful services! After all this we swung to Walgreens pharmacy for Ethans antibiotics, again we have insurance for this but still paid $5 more.

So all in all, Ethans Strep (Pharyngitis) cost us $65 and thats with a good insurance plan. It makes you realise why so many people here don't seek medical help when they need it. We are lucky that we can afford a good healthcare plan and the extra fees associated with the medical issues but many can't. The cost for Urgent Care without the insurance would have been $228 without the tests and treatments.

The NHS may not be perfect, but when you add up medical costs in the UK, it really becomes something to be proud of.