Blood tests when living in Germany

[sallyeb]

Morning

I don't know if anyone can help with this query but I thought I would give it a go. My OH has a new job based in Germany. As I only see a rheumatologist yearly I was thinking of staying with the NHS particularly as we will keep our home over here. My query is what then to do about my monthly blood tests as I'm not sure I will be home every month? I have been having monthly bloods done for over 20 years so I'm sure if something was going to turn up it would have done so by now .

Can I get a blood test in Germany and send the results through? Or maybe a longer time between bloods?

I will obviously talk to my rheumatology department but I wondered if anyone had experience of this

Sally

[helixhelix]

For quite a while I was shuttling between France and the U.K. before I finally moved completely. The theory is that if you aren't resident in the U.K. then you have no right to NHS services, and the NHS will only supply you with a maximum of 3 months prescriptions before you leave. So be careful how you explain this to your rheumatology dept, as if you say you are moving abroad then they have to say that they can no longer keep you as a patient. However if the plan is that you will stay resident in the U.K. but with long'ish trips to visit your husband then that's ok. The HMRC website sets out what the residency rules are, but the essence is more than 183 days a year in the U.K.

So a lot hinges on what your residency status is, and how the rest of your healthcare will be covered. Your European Health Card is also in theory only valid for holidays of less than 90 days and only gives basic cover.

All in all it was maybe two years where I was permanently moving between countries as was looking after my mum in U.K. at same time as renovating a house in France. At that time I was on 2 monthly blood tests and drug prescriptions so with a bit of organisation it worked fine. I think there was one point when I paid for a private blood test in France because I couldn't get back to uk in time - it was expensive!

Anyway I managed to wiggle round the theory and make it work for me, so I'm sure you'll find a way.

[sallyeb in reply to helixhelix]

Thank you for the information it certainly gives me lots to think about .

Sally