For some time I’ve been thinking about getting health insurance. I had it as part of my package in my last job but never set it up. Now I have a toddler, I’m looking again for the family.
I’m still quite confused as to how it works. I wasn’t brought up in the UK, and where I was it’s all private. You call up your private doctor and you get a same day appointment. If you need diagnostic tests, similar kind of thing, maybe you’d wait a few days or a week, but you’re always dealing with the hospital or doctor directly.
Obviously here you see the GP who will refer you (if they deem it necessary!) and then you’re likely waiting a number of weeks for an appointment with a specialist, then weeks for your results.
How do I go about making things as simple as my first scenario above? I’ve read that even with health insurance covering private hospitals (Nuffield etc) I’d STILL need a referral from a GP. Is that at their discretion again, or just a formality?
I know I could simply cover the cost of any appointments etc but overall that could become very expensive.