How do I pick up with the NHS after 6 years living abroad?

[pinkypig]

Hello,

After 4.5yrs in Oz and 18 months in France I will be returning to the UK in June with 3 children and an Aussie husband.

Can anyone help me out with what I might expect to go through in order to get back into the NHS system? Who do I need to contact, is there a waiting period etc.

Many Thanks in advance.

PP

"Free NHS treatment is based on your residency in the UK. People of any
nationality coming to the UK are entitled to the same National Health
Services as any other citizen; this is as long as they are coming to the UK
to make this their permanent home. The Department of Health states
that those who come to this country to make it permanent should show
evidence of this, for example, registering with a local GP. If you are a UK
citizen who has moved abroad for more than three months, you may lose
your entitlement to free NHS treatment until you can show evidence that
you intend to re-settle in the UK."

From www.firststopcareadvice.org.uk/downloads/resources/1873.pdf

Find your local GP surgery, phone up to make sure it covers your address and is accepting new patients, go along and register, and that's pretty much it, in my experience. I returned from 12 years abroad with two DCs born abroad, had to fill in lots of forms (children's immunisation history etc), and was reissued with an NHS number as mine was no longer valid, but it was all very straightforward.

Dentists are a bit more complicated because so many are no longer in the NHS at all, or don't accept new NHS patients, or only do children on the NHS and not adults. You may have to ask for local advice about which ones to try.

ditto exexpat - I just strolled up to the local GP and signed up, no problem at all.

I was lucky in my area with dentist too - no problem finding an NHS dentist (although, I'm regretting it - way preferred my treatment in Singapore)