how does the whole gp/hospital thing work

[oranges]

Hi,
Please excuse me for sounding really dense but I really have no idea how to go about getting ante-natal care at the mo. I'm 13 weeks pregnant and live abroad at the moment, so have just been going to a private doctor, but I want to move back to the UK early in the third trimester as I'd really rather give birth closer to home. I did live in London, but think I'd like to go to my mum's place in Cardiff. I do have insurance that would cover private healthcare but have a feeling its better to go on the NHS anyway. Any advice - please?? I've no idea where to start.

Hi Oranges, the Cardiff part of your post sprung me into action with a response as I live there too and am 12 weeks pregnant.

You need to register with a GP wherever you decide to live. They will arrange your antenatal care with a midwife who will then arrange for you to have your appointments at the hospital. You will already have missed your 12 and 20 week scans by then but I expect they will want to do one of there own when you book in and they will need to see all your notes from your private care.

The main hospital in Cardiff is the University Hospital of Wales and they have midwife led (no intervention) and Consultant led (high risk) sections. If you prefer you can go to the midwife led unit at Llandough Hospital in Penarth which is smaller.

You might like to get your mum to have a chat with her doctors surgery to confirm all this but I think you would generally wait until you move to the area and then sort it out. I'm sure it happens a lot and as long as you have your private notes then they can simply use those to build their own.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you need any other info. Congratulations on the pregnancy. Is this your first baby?

Thank you! I did think The Heath would be the best place to go - there is a private hospital somewhere in Pentwyn but it seems rather small. Are you at the Heath? How do you find it?

I've had a 12 week scan over here, and will probably have a 20 week scan too, so I can bring them, and results of blood tests over. I was just worried in case I am going to arrive too late to make various appointments. It is my first baby - I had a m/c earlier this year which is why I wanted to come home this time. Congratulations to you too!

Yes, the BUPA hospital in Pentwyn is tiny and doesn't have a designated maternity department or anything as not many people round here choose that option.

Personally, I do have a couple of issues with the Heath as it is so large and overstretched you feel like you have to know all about your notes and progress as they are too busy to have read them. I had my dd there 3 years ago. I have no choice but to go there as I am requesting an elective section, following an emergency one last time. My friend is a midwife there though and there are some good ones around. There are benefits of a large university hospital in that there is Special Care for the babies if they need it and the consultants all have different specialities and experiences.

I'm not sure of the system with private deliveries, but if you deliver on the NHS, you get a community midwife team who come round every so often after the baby is born to make sure you are both doing well and then they transfer your baby to the care of the health visitor team from your doctors surgery for all the baby jabs etc.

Where in Cardiff is your mum based? We are in North Cardiff, Rhiwbina and the midwives and health visitors are really great. I'm very pleased with the ones I've met so far.

Where are you living at the moment? abroad is a big place!

Depending on how long you've been away from the country though, you may not be entitled to free NHS care? I'm not sure about this hence the question mark.

This might help but I don't know if it's a reliable source.

Wow, thanks for posting that SueW - it hadn't even occured to me! I am eligible (I hope) as I've got a British passport, only been away 2 years (in Kenya) and work for a British employer. My bank statements still go to my mum's too in Radyr-Cardiff West.
The other option I have is to get treatment and give birth in London, where there is private healthcare and I may not run into so much red tape. Take your point about the Heath - I used to do hospital radio there which is why I've got a soft spot for it!

Did you hand back your NHS card when you left - if so you may need to reapply for it by registering with the new GP. If it slipped your mind to do so (as it did ours !) it should be straightforward. You can just register with a gp anyway - dd had no official documentation (no NHS number or NI number etc) as she was born abroad but it wasn't an issue to register her even while we were still abroad as we had a local address. I think as long as you have paid UK National Insurance you are ok and many countries (mainly EU) have a reciprocal healthcare agreeemnt .

Your records have probably gone into storage at the NHS trust of the gp with whom you were previously regsitered so you may need to contact him/her to get your details transferred to the new one or fill in a form authorising your new gp to do so.

hth

I have no idea if I had an NHS card, or where it is if I did! The prob with NI is that I did pay, but when I moved abroad, the Inland Revenu told me to stop as I am registered to pay taxes here. hhmmm.

You are probably still ok if you have a reasonably recent history of NI payments or your partner has and presumably you are a UK national ? dh paid taxes in Switzerland for 4 years but maintained his UK NI but I haven't paid any since I stopped working 7 years ago. I wouldn't worry about the NHS card as long as you have an NI number they'll find you !

Yes, we both paid NI for about eight years in the UK, and we do have an NI numbers and British passports. Can't believe how much paperwork there is involved

woULD YOU QUALIFY FOR FREE HOSPITAL TREATMENT ON THIS BASIS?

anyone who has lived lawfully in the UK for 10 continuous years at some point but who is now working abroad and has not been away for more than 5 years;

Sorry about caps - didn't look at what i was typing