My Doctors Surgery-aaaarrgh

oysterman

Got told by my surgery that they could not deal with our holiday jabs, because our itinerary was too complex. We are going to Singapore, New Zealand & Borneo. They told me they could only see us if we were going to two destinations or less.

Even i know NZ is safe & i was pretty sure Singapore was as well. Surgery would have none of it & said i would have to go to a private travel clinic.

The bloody jabs cost us £200 & looking on the surgery website everyone of them would have been free. Rant over :mad:

paddyrg

So you're upset the NHS wouldn't subsidise your holiday? Or have I misunderstood? :-)

oysterman

paddyrg wrote: »

So you're upset the NHS wouldn't subsidise your holiday? Or have I misunderstood? :-)

In what way is the NHS subsidising my hols? I pay my NI SO why should i not have the benefit like other people do from it

I am am angry that i have to pay out this money when i could get it foc from the surgery.

Now if i was travelling all the way across South East asia from country to country & it was a complicated itineray i would except it with no problems.

scottishblondie

I thought jabs for going on holiday were something you had to pay for anyway? I'm pretty sure my GP charges for them.

Maldives_lover

oysterman wrote: »

In what way is the NHS subsidising my hols? I pay my NI SO why should i not have the benefit like other people do from it

I am am angry that i have to pay out this money when i could get it foc from the surgery.

Now if i was travelling all the way across South East asia from country to country & it was a complicated itineray i would except it with no problems.

I recently went on a cruise to a number of countries and my surgery had no problem doing the injections. They asked me for a full written list of the countries being visited then told me what injections I need and gave me a prescription. I paid for the prescriptions and they did the injections. If your surgery is being difficult about this ask to speak to the practice manager or move surgeries.

Having these injections foc is not the NHS subsiding your holidays, that is a very short sighted view. If you were to go to another country without the correct injecctions you travel insurance would be invalid and the NHS would have to pay for your treatment on your return and this could cost a lot more than the cost of a few injections, not to mention SSP if you're off work sick etc.

issy18

Whilst it may vary by practice to practice there are only certain vaccines that can be administered free of charge by the NHS for travel, for the others the practice can charge you for or point you in the direction of a travel clinic. I would agree that the your itinerary was not unduly complicated but they would have been within their rights to charge you if what you required fell outside of the above.

oysterman

scottishblondie wrote: »

I thought jabs for going on holiday were something you had to pay for anyway? I'm pretty sure my GP charges for them.

My surgery charges(according to their website) for some but not all. All the ones i had done i could have had them done FOC.

VfM4meplse

issy18 wrote: »

Whilst it may vary by practice to practice there are only certain vaccines that can be administered free of charge by the NHS for travel, for the others the practice can charge you for or point you in the direction of a travel clinic. I would agree that the your itinerary was not unduly complicated but they would have been within their rights to charge you if what you required fell outside of the above.

Agreed, the Regulations permit this by saying that the practitioner may charge for certain things, including drugs and devices that may be required whilst out of the UK...the unwritten NHS policy is that if you can afford travel abroad, you can afford to pay for the associated health costs.

Have a fun holiday...!

oysterman

Maldives_lover wrote: »

I recently went on a cruise to a number of countries and my surgery had no problem doing the injections. They asked me for a full written list of the countries being visited then told me what injections I need and gave me a prescription. I paid for the prescriptions and they did the injections. If your surgery is being difficult about this ask to speak to the practice manager or move surgeries.

Having these injections foc is not the NHS subsiding your holidays, that is a very short sighted view. If you were to go to another country without the correct injecctions you travel insurance would be invalid and the NHS would have to pay for your treatment on your return and this could cost a lot more than the cost of a few injections, not to mention SSP if you're off work sick etc.

Unfortunately i spoke to the practice manager & she was not interested, practice policy states more than two destinations we can't help, even thou we both new Borneo was the only problem country.
Can't see me moving surgeries, the doc's & nurses are great their. This is the first time i had met the manager(hopefully the last)

sarahg1969

paddyrg wrote: »

So you're upset the NHS wouldn't subsidise your holiday? Or have I misunderstood? :-)

As far as I know, they DO charge for holiday jabs.

The NHS subsidises doctors' own private work (private consultations, medico-legal work and so on) to a huge extent, by providing premises, staff and technology. They seem to turn a blind eye to that. Providing holiday jabs at cost shouldn't be a problem.

sarahg1969

Does anyone know which ones are free? And why?