Achi news desk-
In the five years since she first started working in Britain – initially in Leeds and for the last year in Aberdeen – she has paid more than £4000 in NHS surcharges, the fees charged to immigrants depending on their age, visa, and the anticipated use of the health service.
Yet she has felt forced to go privately – or travel abroad – to get health care.
Dr Halabi says she is not alone.
“I travel to the US to get parts of my health care. I have a friend who has a complex autoimmune disease and gets all his health care in Greece.
“I have a friend from Bulgaria who travels to Bulgaria for everything. I know friends who go back to India.
“It’s a common trend among all my friends who have any kind of international connection.”
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Dr Halabi, 35, turned to a private GP in Aberdeen after struggling to see an NHS GP for symptoms of what turned out to be a complex autoimmune disorder.
A request for blood tests at her previous surgery in Leeds had been refused as she was told they were limited to checking B12 and iron on the NHS.
When she started experiencing digestive problems and sought an appointment with her new GP in Aberdeen earlier this year, she got a phone call back instead – but missed it because she was in a work meeting at the time.
He said: “I called back and was told there was no other availability, but they had read my notes and sent a prescription to the pharmacy.
“Basically, I was given medication to settle my digestive system, without being seen, without an appointment.
“I didn’t feel comfortable taking medicine without being seen by a doctor, so I never went to pick it up and I never took it.”
She has since paid a total of £1,500 for a private consultation with a GP and subsequent tests which have diagnosed a rare autoimmune condition which causes fatigue and nausea.
With a private GP, Dr Halabi was able to get a face-to-face appointment “almost instantly” and describes the experience of being heard as “almost emotional”.
He said: “I was seen very quickly. My issue was dealt with very professionally. I have been diagnosed with something I have been struggling with for a long time.
“What I said to the GP was: ‘I want someone to start sorting out what I have’. In a 10 minute NHS appointment, you can’t do that.
“I want to make it clear that it is not the fault of the NHS or the doctors – they are all so overwhelmed – but when I went to the private GP and spoke to her, I said: ‘I am so pleased of finally having someone. Listen to me’.”
Dr Halabi, an immigration scholar, said she was saddened by how much the NHS had “declined” since she first lived in the UK in 2009 while completing a Master’s degree.
She added that she also felt guilty for turning to the private sector when many other people could not afford it.
He said: “One of the reasons we wanted to move to the UK from the US is because the NHS is something we really believe in and we wanted to pay into a system that had healthcare public.
“For me, it’s an emotional issue. I grew up with a chronically ill father.
“But I also feel very angry because it is being taken from everyone – not just me. It is very sad to see what is happening with the NHS at the moment.
“I’m scared of this shift.
“Even as I participate in it – because I’m a complex case that needs someone to look at me – I’m very reluctant to participate in this move to private healthcare because as private healthcare becomes more and more powerful as a market share, they can start commanding much higher prices.”
