AIBU to not be registered with a GP?

[JSachs]

Firstly, I am not a UK or EU citizen.

I am here on a contract to work for a couple of years and then will see where things go from there.

I am not registered with an NHS GP for various reasons that I won't get into.

I have only one concern that I hope someone will be able to clarify for me-

What happens if I fall sick and can't go to work? Is it only an NHS GP who can provide a sick note or fit to work certificate? Or can private doctors also do that?

I don't have any concerns about getting treatment when I am sick as I can afford private care. I am only concerned about the employment aspect- is there like a legal requirement for people to be registered with an NHS surgery?

And like others say you don't need to be registered at a NHS GP to access hospital service.

See www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/uk-visitors/Pages/accessing-nhs-services.aspx

If I read it correctly my ILs who are British nationals but love in NZ are entitled to hospital treatments but not GP services.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to present a note from a private GP, but like others have said you should check what your employer will accept.

I don't think it matters a jot that you don't want to use an NHS GP but not having an NHS number, which you would get if you registered with an NHS GP, might cause you some problems. If you are admitted to hospital in a state where you can't give a history having an NHS number would allow at least some kind of review of your basic info meaning your family could be alerted and any conditions/allergies accounted for.
Also, getting a smear test would be pretty difficult because of the way the samples are processed and how the recall works.

MrsWedge, I didn't know that. Very useful info. Thanks.

Bit I admit I was kind of assuming OP blasé-ness about it all meant she is working somewhere where there are firm repatriation plans. Many organisations like UN, WHO, ILO and major charities with ops abroad will have this all down. :)

You definitely don't need to be registered. But do you have private health insurance?

I know you say you can "afford" private healthcare but it does get ball-achingly expensive. Just to give you an example, I had a kidney infection and had to be hospitalised (private). I was in hospital for 8 days, and it cost around £25k. And I didn't have any operations or complicated tests. It only takes a run of bad luck for you to rack up some serious costs - better value to get insurance if you can.

Revolting she seems pretty blasé about a lot of things in fairness!

! Indeed. Mind you some of those gigs - e.g. UN which is my family's background - come with amazing private med ins which covers routine appts etc as standard so one can afford to be blasé. Now I slum it with everyone else in my surgery waiting room

And very welcome you are too I am still intrigued by these reasons for not wanting to be in the nhs. Maybe the op is a spy / on the run / the queen / an alien

I am surprised at the assumptions people have made here and the bizarre situations they have imagined for my future.

Firstly, did I say I don't have private insurance? I don't remember divulging those details at all, yet you have all assumed I am not insured.

Secondly, I am not a government secret agent as some of you have alluded.

Lastly, I asked a simple question- can I use a private GP's sick note for time off work due to illness. The answer does not depend on whether I have travel insurance, whether my government will re-patriate me and why I don't want to use an NHS GP.

I cannot understand how this discussion has reached where it has. Is mumsnet always like this?

And then there are comments like this one-

"haven't RTFT but if you are on a contract yu won't get paid if you don't work anyway so why do you need a note?"

Not only have you not read the full thread, you have also not read my contract. Firstly, everyone who is employed will have some sort of employment contract. How would you know it doesn't have provisions for paid sick leave unless you read it?

Op because, when you post with such scant detail, and in such a snitty style, the natural human reaction is to try and fill in the gaps.

It seems you are rather enjoying making people guess, then getting annoyed when they do.

Lots of people have answered your question. Basically the answer is: don't see why your employer wouldn't accept a private GP sick note but why don't you ask them to double check.

The rest of the thread has been made up of people half heartedly trying to guess your reasons for you not wanting an nhs gp and you getting in high dudgeon about the guessing.

Yes. A private GP can issue a certificate stating that you have been advised you are unfit for work for X weeks or Y days due to medical reasons.

There will be a charge which I imagine varies from practice to practice. I have not yet come across a workplace that will not accept letters from private surgeries. I have written similar letters on headed notepaper before that have been more than adequate.

I have no idea why this thread has veered off in so many directions!

Oh and yanbu not to be registered with an NHS GP! I would think you were unreasonable not to be registered with any GP at all as it's a faff to get seen as a temporary resident in an emergency. But as long as you're registered with a private practice yanbu.

The reason people are interested in why you don't want to register with and NHS GP is because registering with one would be the easiest way to ensure you do have access to a valid sick note. If your objection to doing so was known we might be able to come up with ways around it that don't involve relying on a private GP for a note that may or may not be valid depending on your employer - because as we've established, we can't answer that question for you.

What BitOutOfPractice said.

Yes I do think it's "unreasonable" (in the sense that it's weird) not to access NHS services if you're entitled to them. If you were prepared to disclosed why you choose not to, maybe I would change my view. Why ask the question and not disclose all relevant info?

I lived in the U.K for 3 years (also not a British or EU citizen) and registered with my local GP. I generally used it for contraceptive prescriptions. It wasn't a perfect system but I thought it was pretty good (e.g. I found having to go to a practice near your home address rather than work very annoying - however now I can go to a doctor near my work but I pay 30 quid each time I visit, even under the publicly funded system here, so swings and roundabouts).

This seems like an example of a question that shouldn't have been in AIBU. You've asked one question in your title and then a completely different one in your OP. People have clicked on the thread thinking you were asking if it was unreasonable not to register with a GP, and that's mostly what they have been pondering. If that wasn't the question you wanted answered, why ask it?

Advice on sick notes would have been much better requested on Employment or Health and you'd not have got the debate about registration or use of the NHS (or at least not as much).

I live in a country that uses a similar GP based system to the UK and after almost six years we still don't have a GP. It is a serious pain for us and has meant no continuity of care and a lot of wasted time in out of hours clinics. If we had a chance to sign up for a GP I'd take it like a shot.

Is mumsnet always like this?

Sadly so, folk tend to pick apart stuff you say. Not entirely bad. Very good for confronting BS.

everyone who is employed will have some sort of employment contract.

Not the self-employed. And God knows how zero-hours contracts work. Lots of people work temp/supply so they don't get sick pay either. Must be other situations I forget about. Probably not what you meant.

I didn't "assume" you didn't have private insurance, I asked if you DID have it. Are you always like this?

And yanbu not to be registered with the nhs. I never use it as I find it slow, bureaucratic and (in my case) not terribly effective. But it is not the norm here, so expect people to ask you why if you state you're not using it!

"Firstly, everyone who is employed will have some sort of employment contract"

I think you must be making a bit of an ssumption there OP (and don't you just hate assumptions eh?) because I don't. Of course I'm not going to tell you why, I'll let you guess

Well, most people who are not self employed do have some sort of contract or agreement with their employers. Even temps have contracts.
Whether or not the contract accounts for sick pay is a different issue and you won't know that unless you have read the contract.

I don't enjoy sitting back and getting people to guess. I simply do not see the point of getting into my personal reasons for not registering with a GP - and you can't blame me given how sensitive people here appear to be when it comes to the NHS.

I also don't see the point of discussing what I do for a living and what kind of insurance I have because it has no bearing whatsoever on my original question. If I would rather not share certain details about myself then I feel people should respect that.

So the answer is a private GP can write sick notes. Whether your employer accepts them or not is up to your contract/ employer. Most employers will accept a sick note signed by a GP ( NHS or private). Most employers will accept a fit to work note.

Some employers may feel that, rightly or wrongly, a private GP is more likely to sign someone off sick than an NHS GP and therefore not accept it. Since I don't know who your employer is and haven't read their policy, I cannot say. Other employers might question why they are paying for private medical care which is provided free of charge providing you meet certain residential requirements, but again, this is dependent upon your own personal status and your companies.

Some companies prefer that you go to a private GP of their choosing, because it is less likely you will be signed off for the period that any other doctor would sign you off from ( notably City firms) and therefor return to work somewhat prematurely of your real fitness to work.

Is that true about temps having contracts? Not arguing. I'm foreign & when I worked for 7 months as a temp (in another country) I didn't have any contract whatsoever. Just day to day placements.

So if you get hit by a car and an NHS ambulance picks you up, you are willing to PAY for that service rather than register with NHS even if you have no intention to use it?

I have private cover, but I'm still registered with the NHS...I can't see why you wouldn't want the back up of a free service (I presume you pay national insurance?).

Contented, op doesn't need to be registered with a gp in order to access emergency treatment. She won't have to pay for NHS treatment whether or not she's registered with a gp.