exploring the wide world of nhs

So in this great new land that I live in, we have "free" healthcare (free meaning we are taxed out the wazoo). Luckily I have had good experiences to date (you don't have to pay for certain medications, like contraception, hurrah!) The one caveat to all of this is that you must register with a GP, unless you fancy spending your life hanging out at walk-in centres.

I had of course not bothered to register with a GP because I was getting by just fine at the walk-ins. However, there comes a special time in one's life when you get a little gift called a urinary tract infection and suddenly sitting around in a strange waiting room for three hours is less appealing. Hence, I looked online to find a GP in my postcode, printed and filled out the necessary forms, and pulled together the only "proof of residency" I could find: a bedraggled deed of assignment from my flat and a notice from my credit card company with my office address on it.

I took said documentation to the GP's office nearest work and encountered a disgruntled receptionist who appeared to really, really enjoy working in public service (not actually). I had filled out one of the forms wrong (apparently an NI number is not the same as an NHS number) and she was not a fan of my bootleg proof of address. It was all I had!

We went back and forth a few times:

Me: can you tell me what would be acceptable?
Her: utility bills or council tax statements
Me: I don't have either of those, what can I do to get medical care?
Her: (shrug) walk-in centre? Go find one online.

Thanks.

I felt relatively defeated so I did the only thing I could think of: went in the bathroom and cried :)

Some days I feel really at home here and other days I feel completely lost. Being unwell and having gotten no sleep the night before didn't help! I wrapped up the pity party after a few minutes, re-applied my makeup so I could walk out of there with SOME dignity, and promptly treated myself to a curry.

I then went home to find any further scraps of evidence to prove that I live here and then hunted online to find a more humane GP in my area. Done and done (found a change of address form from my bank - would this do????).

The next morning I phoned up the GP to see if they would indeed let me register and they were SO nice. Thank God. Registration took 2 minutes and they had me in the system 3 hours later.

But.

They had no available appointments until next week. :) they did, however, have a walk-in service the next morning, ha! After all that. Oh well, at least I have a GP now...

P.S. Don't worry parents, I am FINE