I've had a few responses to my NHS entry and feel I should make one important point I didn't mention. Many of my readers are expats that are here because they are married to British citizens. If you have a spouse visa, you may come across the same problem I had when I first got my visa and I think it's important to make sure others are well informed...
Once I got my spouse visa, and went to my local GP for the first time to be treated for a nasty flu thinking I was eligible for care through the NHS. Upon arrival, I was told that because it said on my visa 'No recourse to public funds' I was not eligible for NHS care and was sent away without even having my temperature taken. I went the next year without care for an arthritic illness that I need treatment for from time to time and didn't like being refused treatment.
We were really frustrated with the situation. Wayne thought it must be a mistake so I did some research. I found on an immigration support website, that this was in fact the case. I called my GP's office and explained the situation. I gave then the web address for them to refer to, but they wanted no part of it and abruptly told me I was wrong and was not eligible for care in their office. I did more research made quite a few calls and was finally put through to the office that was in charge of the NHS in my area. I finally got someone to help me. He registered me to the local GP, sent me my NHS card and it was finally taken care of.
Unfortunately, I was already tainted by the situation and the bad experience I had in that office and until I got pregnant (almost a year later), never saw the inside if their office. I just had no desire to deal with them.
I'm sharing this story so that expats that are here on a spouse visa know their rights and know the actions to take to resolve it if they come across the same sort of thing.
It's been a while since I blogged regularly. I guess I've been going by the rule - if you don't have anything nice to say - don't say anything at all. I hate 'woe is me' type entries and for the last month or so, I've been really down and haven't had anything good to say. I think it started with the news that Aniela (my fellow expat girlfriend) was moving back to the US and was exacerbated by the incident with Wayne's cousin and the flare up of my condition (along with a general feeling of homesickness & loneliness). I was really depressed for quite a few weeks there and haven't been doing much more than going to the gym and other random things to keep me busy during the day. I haven't even worked on my web classes (in any serious way) in weeks (probably because I can't concentrate when I'm in pain - never mind get very motivated). I'm not so down anymore. Maybe it's the sunshine. Maybe it's the fact that I'...
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