The healthcare system in the UK

Medical care in the UK operates on the basis of the National Health Service, which was established after the end of the Second World War. Both then and now, the health service is free of charge for all people living in the United Kingdom. And it is not necessary that they are British subjects or pay taxes. Citizens of any country in the world who are temporarily in the UK can also receive emergency medical care for free.

GP – General Practitioner
Every resident of Britain is attached to his general practitioner – "GP". It's like a district therapist. He writes prescriptions for medicines and determines whether the patient needs a specialist consultation.

To find the nearest specialist in your area, it is best to use the NHS search engine, which not only helps you quickly navigate, but also supports many languages, including Russian.
For medical advice, call the NHS line at 111.In an emergency, call 999 to call an ambulance in London. Calls to these numbers are free from any phone.

The NHS system of operation looks something like this:
1 You go to the nearest department where the General Practitioner — a general doctor for all patients (children, adults, colds, more serious diseases) takes you. Naturally, to get to the reception, you will have to stand in line, sometimes for several hours.
2. The doctor writes you a prescription or sends you to a specialist, but to get such a referral, you need to convince the GP that you really need it.
3. If necessary, the patient is referred to the hospital for inpatient treatment. This service is also paid for by British taxpayers.

Antibiotics
Very many medicines in the UK are strictly prescription drugs. Including all types of antibiotics. British doctors are seriously concerned that antibiotics are taken too often. Therefore, a general practitioner will most likely advise a cold patient to drink an antipyretic and wait until "it goes away on its own ". After all, every doctor has to report for their prescriptions, sum up the results, make statistics. According to the results of the last check, it turned out that in 2011, half of patients with colds left the general practitioner's office with a prescription for antibiotics. All doctors were given a recommendation to reduce this indicator.

Private medical clinics
Private medicine is very well developed in Britain and is among the most advanced in the world. In total, there are more than 300 non-governmental hospitals in the United Kingdom. All private clinics must obtain a license from the local branch of the national health system and undergo inspections at least twice a year. In private clinics, the patient receives any medical care without expectations and in full. Britons can pay for private insurance, which will cover the costs, or pay for specific treatment. In many large companies, insurance is a bonus to your salary. But the problem with paid medicine is its price .For example, for an MRI here you can pay from 250 to 550 pounds (12-30 thousand rubles). And paid childbirth on average costs 7500-10, 000 pounds (370-500 thousand rubles).