How much does an emergency room cost in the UK? Is medical treatment expensive in the UK? The process of seeing a doctor in the UK

It is very expensive to see a doctor in the United States, and it is very tiring to see a doctor in the UK because it is very, very slow here. It is not necessary to make an appointment long in advance for emergency treatment. For some minor illnesses and pains, it is basically recommended that you take care of yourself.

The way and process of seeing a doctor in the UK are very different from those in China. First of all, common chronic diseases and routine physical examinations require appointments long in advance. You also need to go to a different place to treat symptoms if you see an emergency, such as a cold and a runny nose, or mild diarrhea. In the UK, you are generally encouraged to take your medicine and rest on your own. If you go to see a doctor, you may have to wait in line for a long time, so everyone needs to take common medicines.

Brief introduction to the background of the British medical system

It is divided into two parts, one is the public medical system-NHS (National Health Service System), and the other is private hospitals or clinics. Needless to say, private hospitals offer good services and are expensive, and the waiting time is not long. However, most private hospitals do not have 24-hour emergency services. Let’s briefly introduce the NHS.

First of all, it is "free" for British residents (including students and immigrants who have held visas for more than 6 months) to see doctors in hospitals and outpatient clinics within the NHS system (not completely free, immigrants have to pay taxes, and students have to pay taxes every year) There is also a visa fee of ￡150). The welfare benefits are very good, so the UK is also very proud of its NHS system. However, the NHS is often criticized for its inefficiency. Basically, it is a minor illness, serious illness will not be ambiguous. For tourists with a visa of less than 6 months, medical treatment is not free and may not be cheap.

For British residents, everyone needs to register their own general practitioner (a general practitioner is similar to our general practitioner), and general practitioners generally treat patients in places similar to community clinics. When British residents get sick, they have no way to go directly to the hospital to see a specialist like in our country. Instead, they need to make an appointment with their GP first. If there are further needs, the GP will help make an appointment with a specialist. This is the conventional view that diseases are not urgent. When going to the emergency room, different diseases and different severity require you to go to different places. If life is in danger, you need to go directly to the hospital's AE (accidental emergency service). For sprains, fractures, and other injuries you should go to an urgent care center, and for minor aches and pains you can see your general practitioner. If you have a minor illness such as a cold or diarrhea, go directly to AE, and there is a good chance that no one will care about you.

Introduction to emergency services in the UK

For tourists, emergency services are the most important and do not require an appointment. First let’s talk about the classification of British emergency services:

Severe - coma, massive bleeding, severe difficulty breathing, heart attack, etc.

AE (Accidental Emergency Service) provides emergency services 24 hours a day to treat patients with sudden serious illness or severe trauma. In addition, ordinary emergency patients will be treated at night, and the order of medical treatment follows the principle of "who comes first, who sees first" and "first come, first served" under the same circumstances (the situation is not serious). Therefore, ordinary emergency patients are likely to wait in long queues for AE.

You can call this number to call an ambulance.

The situation is not serious. ——Colds, fevers, burns, cuts, sprains, vomiting, diarrhea, allergies, etc.

GP general practitioner clinics are generally open from 8 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday, but this may vary in different places. Some also provide emergency services at night. I recommend you check it out before going. Generally speaking, you need to make an appointment to see a general practitioner, but it is said that every general practitioner will reserve a part of their working time for emergency patients who do not have an appointment.

The no-appointment emergency department at the walk-in center generally has longer hours than ordinary GP clinics and does not close until eight or nine in the evening.

The first aid center can treat minor injuries such as fractures, sprains, burns, infections, etc.

The light injury unit can handle simple trauma.

Pharmacy Pharmacy Generally speaking, symptoms such as colds are not that serious. You can also consult a pharmacist at a drug store. Go to Boots. Over-the-counter medicines can be purchased directly. You will need a GP prescription or doctor's prescription to purchase.

[Medical Assistance Telephone Number: 111] If you are not sure whether you need to go to emergency temporarily, or if you want to find a GP surgery or walk-in center near you, you can call 111 for help. Operators are trained to provide medical guidance by describing your condition. Great, there is a Chinese translation, no need to worry about language issues and professional medical vocabulary, just tell the operator that you need to communicate in Chinese.

It should also be noted that if the cold and fever are not serious, British doctors generally will not prescribe antibiotics. Maybe most of the advice is. Drink some hot water. And if it’s not serious, there will probably be a long queue. So for reducing fever, general clinics are likely to use physical cooling, such as asking you to take off your clothes and lie down, and sometimes blow a fan on it, which is very different from our own methods of reducing fever. Parents with children should be mentally prepared.

Here are some promotional maps produced in the UK about how people should go to different emergency departments based on their circumstances. Post it to help everyone understand better~~ In short, the UK aims to encourage people to make more rational use of national medical resources. People can get treatment more efficiently when they go to the right place~

Which patients are not suitable for it as shown below? AE emergency department?

The chart below shows the corresponding treatments for this disease.

The cost of emergency treatment in the UK

(The following information is only applicable to students holding short-term visas of less than 6 months)

1. First of all, the official policy for tourists Contingency fee information is stated below

#When an overseas traveler requires non-urgent medical treatment or treatment that is not immediately required, it is the primary care provider's decision as to where the person will be admitted as an NHS patient or as a private patient. (For emergency level, it depends on the doctor to decide whether to charge.)

#According to the terms of service of general practitioners, doctors are required to provide within their scope of practice what they consider to be necessary immediately due to accidents or other emergencies. Free treatment. (In the case of very emergency level, in the spirit of humanitarianism, free rescue will be provided first)

2. The official statement is quite vague. Although the latter statement is free, subsequent hospitalization, medication, etc. There is still a fee. I have checked some cases and found that the most basic main cost of hospitalization for one night is about 200 pounds, plus medicine fees, examination fees, etc. Probably six or seven hundred pounds a night. In another situation, an elderly person at home suffers from a heart attack and requires a routine check-up of about two to three thousand pounds for several days. For other diseases, it is generally around 200-300. But there are also cases where outpatient services are completely free.

3. How to know how much you want to spend in the hospital: Since medical care is free for British residents, many doctors don’t really know how much a certain examination or drug treatment will cost. You can consult the hospital's payment department, or directly ask the GP in the outpatient department.

4. Pay first or treat first: In case of emergency, rescue first, then ask for your domestic address, and finally send you the bill; other less urgent situations may require payment in advance; if you don’t have enough money at the time , you can write a guarantee statement that you will pay the money in the future. In this case, you can also see a doctor first.

: About overseas travel insurance

1. It is recommended to purchase it. After all, seeing a doctor for 111,000 yuan is still very painful.

2. When you are in the hospital, be sure to call the insurance company in advance to ask what supporting documents are needed and what precautions are required. Otherwise, if anything falls short, the money is likely wasted.