NHS

I avoided it for as long as I possibly could, but in the end we had to go.

All autumn, Ben just seemed to go up and down with sickness, never quite getting better before getting sick again.  The cough, runny nose, headaches (he said) and occasional fevers finally got to be too much.  So I called the doctor.

Here you don't see a pediatrician unless you get a referral from your G.P.  And there is one main doctors' office for the town, and generally that is where you go, at least to start.  We could actually walk there in a fairly short amount of time.

Brad took him to his first appointment, and I've taken him to a few more.  So far so good.  

When you go in you tell them you are there and then take a seat.  Same as the U.S. so far.  But rather than exam rooms and corridors that doctors and nurses float between, each doctor has his or her own office.  All the offices are right there off the waiting room, so you just wait until whomever it is you are there to see opens the door and calls you in.  Exam room and office, all in one.

Wait times have been very reasonable, or no different then I've come to expect for a visit to the doctor.  Maybe their system is a bit better - no one puts you in a room and then forgets (or seems to forget) you are there.

When  you are done, you just leave.  No stopping by the desk to hand over your credit card.

And if you get a prescription, you hand it to the person at the chemist, and 10 minutes later they hand you what you need.  No forms or signatures, and for kids, no payment.

So maybe I was worried for nothing...  Its been a good experience so far.  I'm sure we'll have more experiences with the NHS as we go along, and now I am much more optimistic about it all.