# Pregnancy on settlement visa, NHS charges?



## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

Hello, I came to England yesterday, I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, I tried to register at my husband's local GP today and they told me since my visa says no recourse to public funds, I can only get a private GP and midwife not an NHS one, is this true?

Thank you for any advice.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

The NHS is not considered 'public funds'

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1087.aspx?categoryid=68&subcategoryid=162


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

It depends which visa you have. If you have a spouse visa, you can use the NHS.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

While you are eligible for the NHS on a spouse visa, turning up at a doctor's surgery 33 weeks pregnant and expecting automatic health coverage/hospital services is somewhat naive.

There has been lots of publicity lately about health tourism, especially pregnant women using the NHS for delivery etc, and some surgeries and hospitals are wary of such people.

There were some posts also about newcomers to the UK not being eligible for hospital services for 12 months except for emergency treatment - and pregnancy is certainly not an emergency situation.

So you are probably going to have to prove your case and find a hospital and doctor who will take you on.


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## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

Hello, Crawford, I would of loved to 'turn up' at the doctor's surgery at 4 weeks, but as you may know by reading these forums, it can take many months to gather all the required documents to apply for a successful spouse visa decision like I did.

Why you are talking about health tourists, I have no idea... since I am married to an Englishman, I have a spouse visa and having his child who will be a British citizen by birth.


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

Am I entitled to NHS treatment when I move to England? - Health questions - NHS Choices


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

Crawford is mentioning health tourism because it is a genuine concern in the UK and a burden to UK tax payers. Yes, you are entitled to use the NHS, but you will not be given priority over people who are natives and have been paying for the NHS for years. Thus as Crawford said, it will be up to you to find someone to take you on.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

This is from July 2014 by Maternity Action:
Entitlement to free NHS maternity care for women from abroad | Maternity Action

So it does appear that those on spouse visa are eligible from Day 1, but you may have to argue your case. Contact your local Primary Care Trust.


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## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

Thank you _shel and Joppa.

AmyD, why are you making straw a man, I didn't ask for priority.


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

Gingeru said:


> Thank you _shel and Joppa.
> 
> AmyD, why are you making straw a man, I didn't ask for priority.


 She doesnt mean that. The way the nhs works if you are given an appointment that means someone else who is usually resident and entitled has to wait for the next appointment aka you taking priority.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Gingeru said:


> Hello, Crawford, I would of loved to 'turn up' at the doctor's surgery at 4 weeks, but as you may know by reading these forums, it can take many months to gather all the required documents to apply for a successful spouse visa decision like I did.
> 
> Why you are talking about health tourists, I have no idea... since I am married to an Englishman, I have a spouse visa and having his child who will be a British citizen by birth.


Since it takes many month to gather the documentation for a spouse visa, one might have thought that obtaining your visa *before* you became pregnant might have been a more sensible decision.

Being married to a British citizen does not make you automatically eligible for services of the NHS. Yes, having a spouse visa provides you with access to that eligibility, but there is a growing resentment of people who use the system without providing any (or some) contribution to it. 

Hopefully, your husband, who I understand is on DLA, has provided some funding to this very overstretched and abused service.


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## modzy78 (Jan 15, 2010)

Being so close to your due date does make things especially challenging. You have to be referred to a hospital by a GP. So you have to find a GP willing to accept you. This can take time, especially if you're in an area where GPs are oversubscribed and limiting new patients. While you are eligible to register under your visa, you will almost certainly need to show your visa and possibly some sort of proof of address (in your name). The GP will probably want to see you for an initial appointment before referring you to a hospital. Since you'll be considered non-emergency, you could have to wait a few weeks for this appointment, depending on how full their schedule is. (You could be lucky and get right in.) If you make it to the GP for the referral before giving birth, you have to hope the hospital will take you. They might already be fully booked around your due date, which would mean they couldn't guarantee a space for you. Worst case scenario, you end up giving birth at home, a general clinic, hospital waiting room, or in A&E. This might not sound great, but it's best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Best of luck during the end of your pregnancy.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

Did your husband go with you to register? That might help if he is already a patient there. When we came back here I went in alone with our old NHS numbers and said we had returned after many years and they did not want to see any proof of address or anything. If you went alone, I suggest your husband goes with you.


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## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

Crawford said:


> Since it takes many month to gather the documentation for a spouse visa, one might have thought that obtaining your visa *before* you became pregnant might have been a more sensible decision.


You should go on dragons den with your invention of a 100% safe contraceptive.


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## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

Whatshouldwedo said:


> Did your husband go with you to register? That might help if he is already a patient there. When we came back here I went in alone with our old NHS numbers and said we had returned after many years and they did not want to see any proof of address or anything. If you went alone, I suggest your husband goes with you.


Yes, he came with me and is already a patient there. Receptionist looked at my visa and said because I have no recourse to public funds, I must pay £70 per 20 minutes and first appointment is 40 minutes. I will go back there in the morning with printed documents from NHS site showing I am entitled.


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Gingeru said:


> Hello, I came to England yesterday, I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, I tried to register at my husband's local GP today and they told me since my visa says no recourse to public funds, I can only get a private GP and midwife not an NHS one, is this true?
> 
> Thank you for any advice.


It is normal in the UK, if you are entitled to NHS care, to book in with the midwife or hospital between 8-12 weeks of pregnany, and to book a place in the hospital for delivery.
Turning up at 33 weeks pregnant could put a safe delivery of the baby at risk, risking yours or the babies health, this will not be the fault of the NHS if anything goes wrong.
The NHS, GP services and hospital services are stretched to the limit of growing demand, of increasing population.
As you will see on most daily news that A&E services are in a state of chaos, so may find it difficult to deal with a delivery of a baby, worse if it is complicated, if the staff there are not dealing with an accident victim or cardiac arrest, as well as all the other serious things they have to deal with. With all the will in the world, the staff cannot always be there when needed.
It really may have been safer for yourself, and baby, to have been delivered in Russia, and then apply to come to the UK.


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

> It really may have been safer for yourself, and baby, to have been delivered in Russia, and then apply to come to the UK.


I don't know how it works but I suspect she would not have been able to just bring the baby with her without any papers...


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

If the baby was British by the father being British she would just apply for a passport or a tourist visa and get the passport when here if in a rush BUT too late for that now. 

Yes, I booked in at about 12 weeks. My delivery slot, given that slot to the hospital is long given you can go any time and good job because I went 2 weeks early. 

Have you checked out where the local provision is? Maternity hospitals and midwife led suites? If you're going to face problems you need to know what your options are. Most A&E would send you away if arriving yourself, they're not really equipped for delivery bar real emergency c sections etc.


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Quite a few years ago, I was working in the A&E department, when a former school chum arrived at A&E on the back of a motor bike, she had back pain, 'more of an ache' she described it,and was about 30 weeks pregnant, she thought maybe she had a urinery infection.
After examination, her back pain turned out to be full labour, this was just before the time of routine ante natal scans. Luckily, a cubicle and couch was available in our very busy department, and TWO identical baby girls were born. The beautiful babies were very tiny and had breathing problems, there was no maternity facilities at our hospital, hence no incubators, mum and tiny sick babies had to be transferred to the nearest Mat unit, quite a few miles away,after nearly three months of intensive care the babies survived to be 'normal' healthy children, through luck more than planning.
Of late the NHS had been reducing maternity services, and these days Mat hospitals may be 'many miles away' when really needed in an emergency.


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## Gingeru (Nov 11, 2014)

I managed to get registered today and got an appointment with the midwife next week. Thank you, to all the helpful posters.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

That is great news! Hope all goes well from now on.


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## modzy78 (Jan 15, 2010)

You are very fortunate they were able to be so helpful. I hope all goes well and is as stress free as possible.


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