To think it’s wrong to use someone’s address to get healthcare in a different area

[Coldnights]

A friend of mine is using another friends address to get healthcare under a different mental health team than the one they should be in.

@Coldnights

But surely personal letters are also sent to an address that aren’t the persons.

Presumably the person trusts their friend not to open them if they trust them enough to use their address. Not sure that this is particularly relevant to your original question and is an entirely private matter between the two friends? Why would this be a concern to you personally?

If she can get better care then I say she is doing the right thing. Getting someone well again as quickly as possible is to the benefit of all. The NHS is not funded via local taxation at different rates so this is purely an administrative control. The fact that significant differences in quality of care between areas exists is very poor and people shouldn't have to just sit there and accept it.

I don't blame them! Wish I could do this!

As it happens patients can choose gp "out of area" in England, wales and Scotland I'm not sure about Northern Ireland if the gp is happy to take them on so they're not really doing anything wrong, although in practice gp's are still quite rigid on this.

As so many pps say what's disgraceful is that they couldn't get decent mh care in their locale!

That's what you need to be angry about!

My work colleague got IVF by changing her address to her Mum's house, she wouldn't have been eligible in our area. It's not something I would have done, but I can understand why.

She kept her address records at her Mum's so she could get their dd into a better primary school. Such a shame there's a postcode lottery for these things.

The fact we all pay the same taxes but some people get more than others is a much bigger problem.

This is the key issue for me.

Yes Yabu it shouldn’t be a postcode lottery

Why would you rather this person have a mental health crisis than being able to access to a mental health team, bit callous don't you think? Take a look at yourself OP

She could access her local team

I think its wrong if they can't get what they need because they live in the wrong place, and I think its none of your business.

I agree with most of the other posters.

Can’t stand this postcode lottery.

However I completely disagree with people travelling to this country to get free medical treatment who have not paid into the system. Or people lying that they live here in this scenario.

For some strange reason you can't actually choose to go out of area for mental health care but you can for physical care. Strange but true.

I can't get het up about this. Of course it's wrong to lie about where you live but if MH services were better funded and she could get the care she needs without lying then she would.

I can fully uderstand why and I would fully support someone in the case of your friend.

MH care is appauling in some areas and I've had some friends of mine really struggling to see anyone when they really needed them - eg no access to a CPN for a year when they are supposed to have a review at least 4 times a year and so on.

I know of someone (friend of friend)who did this: used the address of the house they owned and rented out to get better care in the neighbouring county/health board. Their situation was utterly desperate and I don't blame them.
The friend who told me about them did so because we were in the same situation, and they wondered if there anything we could do to try and get what we needed elsewhere.
We did end up getting appropriate local help eventually, but it shouldn't be harder in some places than others.

Surely though it can cause issues with benefits etc

@pitchblue, yep that is true for IVF too. And totally unfair when you can have 3 rounds of IVF in one area and just one in the other (so much less likely to work :()

YABU for all the reasons already listed by PPs.

What a shame she can't get the help she needs locally. Will she have to travel further now which can add stress.

The only thing wrong in this situation is that she needs to do it. Healthcare should not be a postcode lottery

I don’t judge them for doing that and I would do the same if it was me in that situation. A couple of years ago I had a colleague who spent her life savings on going private because the NHS wait was 8 months. She wouldn’t have made it 8 more days without intervention.

I don't think you're much of a friend if you're judging your friend. I would do anything in my power to ensure my friends were quickly treated for any health concerns because I love them.

you don't sound very sympathetic, OP.
can you not feel pity for someone who is in such need, so ill.
life must be very hard for such a person, every day, even little things that most of us take in our stride.

I do have empathy for her but she’s using a service where she doesn’t live.

@Meuniere our friends in a next door county got three IVF cycles and our area offered none to anybody.
We all paid the same into the NHS.
12 years on I still haven't forgotten how unjust that felt.

@cologne4711

I think it's worse that a person's postcode can determine the level or amount of care they can receive

This.

Yes, this.