Emergency Assistance: 999
Medical Hotline: 111
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NHS
One of things the UK is most proud of is its National Health Service – the NHS. It was created 70 years ago to make healthcare freely available to everyone and now has over 1.7 million staff, making it the largest employer in the UK. It also provides training and world-leading research. It is funded through taxation.
Although you can get emergency or temporary care for free, to take full advantage of the NHS services if you have arrived under the BNO visa, you will need to pay for access through the Immigrant Health Surcharge. The best way to do this is to find the nearest GP (doctor) surgery to where you live and make an appointment to register. You will need some proof of ID and address.
The NHS system is slightly different in different parts of the UK. To find out how to register with a GP, click here for England, here for Scotland, here for Wales, and here for Northern Ireland.
Alternatively, you could pay for private healthcare or take out healthcare insurance. Despite having arguably the world’s best free healthcare system, the UK has many excellent private healthcare providers.
The Wokingham Borough Council has provided the following presentation on Healthcare in the UK for new residents from Hong Kong.
Useful Links
How to register with a GP surgery
FAQs
How to apply NHS Number? Could I apply the GP without the NHS Number?
For your first registration of GP, you do not need to provide NHS Number. The number will be given by NHS when you have finished the first registration. This number will stay with you and will be needed to provide for when changing the GP and having other NHS Service in future.
How to choose the GP?
Visit the NHS website and find the GP with your postcode and a list will come out. Most GPs will not accept the registration from other districts.
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Mental Health Support
Building new lives and starting over in a new country can be struggling and challenging. The Government and non-profit organisations are dedicated to provide mental health support services for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders. Please do not hesitate to seek mental health support from the following resources.
Boloh Helpline
Boloh is a service funded by the National Emergencies Trust originally to support ethnic minorities during the pandemic. It is now expanded to include helpline service specifically for supporting Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) settling in the UK. The helpline will listen to your worries, problems and stresses during your time settling in the UK and provide practical and emotional support.
You can seek support from the Boloh Helpline between Monday and Friday (10am – 8pm) and Saturday (10am – 3pm) via phone 0800 151 2605 and by email Boloh.helpline@barnardos.org.uk
NHS Talking Therapies service
Talking Therapies is a Berkshire NHS service that can help you treat mental health and emotional wellbeing issues. The therapists can support you to cope with challenges such as depression, stress, sleep difficulties and various anxiety disorders. They can offer a Wellbeing Assessment allows you to receive the suitable therapy support.
You can ask your GP to refer you to Talking Therapies or you can refer yourself by signing up to the service which offer different therapies options individual or group therapy sessions, workshops and pre-recorded video courses.
If you do not prefer in-person individual therapy or group sessions, you can access support online without appointment and talk directly to someone. It offers a wide range of online therapy courses via SilverCloud where you can access resources to help you treat common problems and help you learn ways to manage low mood and anxiety, improve your sleep and build resilience.
The Talking Therapies service is available for contact 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday, and 8am to 5pm on Fridays via phone 0300 365 2000 and by email talkingtherapies@berkshire.nhs.uk
Hong Kong Mental Health Webinar
This webinar is for Brookside Group Practice patients and Wokingham residents who are originally from Hong Kong. It is delivered in Cantonese and hopes to provide useful information about looking after your mental health and wellbeing. It covers: What is mental health? What are the risk factors for mental health? How to take care of your mental health – Support and resources available
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Dental care
You can access dental care and treatment through NHS or private services. The NHS dental services are different from GP services as fee will be charged (unless you are entitled to free NHS dental treatment, check here). There are three NHS charge bands depending on what treatment you need and they are explained here on the NHS website. There are NHS dentists in most towns, but places are limited and sometimes they are not able to accept new NHS patients. Different from GP services, NHS dental services registration could be made in any district and more than one service providers. If you are not registered as a NHS patient with your dentist, your dental treatment will be charged as a private patient.
Useful Links
What dental services are available on the NHS?
How much will I pay for NHS dental treatment?
FAQs
How can I find an NHS dentist?
The list of the dentists is provided on the NHS website, with the notices whether any NHS patient registration is available. However, in practice, you may need to check by calling or visiting the dentist’s website.