How does mental health care looks like in England? A few foreigner questions.

[Lemonande]

I'm new here I'm a foreigner, so please forgive me my grammar mistakes. I hope you'll get my point.

I feel like I really need a psychiatric treatment. I suspect that I might have clinical depression. I wanted to ask a few questions because I know nothing about mental health care in UK.

1. Is a psichiatrist care paid? What about medicines? Are they part-refunded or full-paid?

2. If it's paid, what are the aproximate cost of appointments and medicines?

3. Where do I need to go If I want to have a medical examination?

Thank you in advance for every answer.

cheers

[chloe40]

Hi there Lemonande Welcome to our friendly Community.

Firstly, you need to register with a General Practitioner or GP as we call them, quite simple, just go to your nearest practice, take your Passport and ID. As soon as you have done this, ask the receptionist for an appointment to see the Doctor.

When you visit a NHS (National Health Service) GP, it is free of charge. You can ask the GP to refer you to see a Psychiatrist and that is also free of charge. Any medication the GP or Psychiatrist prescribe is either free if you are receiving benefits or around £7.85 per item.

Hope that helps and all the best.

Chloe

[Lemonande in reply to chloe40]

Thanks you so much for your help. It means a lot to me.

All the best.

[chloe40 in reply to Lemonande]

You're very welcome, please do let us know how you get on.

Chloe

[-smrt-]

I would add that you should probably be prepared for a significant wait if you want to see a therapist on the NHS. I can't remember how long it took for me but I was originally quoted 5-6 months. It may depend on your area of the country.

However, you will be able to get some help from a GP much sooner so I hope this works out for you. They are able to prescribe drugs if they consider it a good option. The prescriptions are now a little more expensive than what Chloe quoted (£8.40 I think per month) just for your information.

So, just be patient. The medical professionals are there to help, but it all takes time, for tests to be done and for drugs to start to take effect etc. Best of luck with it!