Lake Road Practice!

Today has been another great day. Yesterday I popped to the LakeRoad Health Centre, just up the road from my Aunty Trisha's house where I am staying, to make an appointment with a GP. To my surprise I was offered a slot today, unheard of in Britain. In order to re-establish myself into British life, at least in the short term, while my Mother is in Hospital, there are certain conditions I have to meet, showing the Government, my temporary resettlement. One of the ways I can show this, is by registering with a Doctor, which I did last week. Of course I am on medication as well, so I had to get a prescription for the pills I am on. In all honesty I wasn't hopeful this morning, expecting a difficult ride from the surgery.

I arrived ten minutes early for my 9.35am appointment; it was far quieter than I expected. Within five minutes I was called in to see the Doctor, Dr Payne. It was fantastic to actually talk to an English GP again. All my patient details from Southampton were already on the system and she was well aware of my medical history. I explained to her that I was issued with blood pressure tablets and Statins at a private clinic in Spain and that I needed a repeat script soon. She was more than happy to write a prescription there and then; the only difficulty was the Statins. The UK doesn't use the same medication I was prescribed in Spain, rather not completely. I was on a high dosage and part of the ingredients are not available here, so they are having to adjust it slightly. I was also booked in for a series of blood tests, so they can monitor my levels over the next few months, just to make sure the new medication isn't having a negative impact on my wellbeing.

I was extremely impressed by the standards of care employed at this surgery. The service was fast, efficient and peoplecentric, rather rare i am told these days. I didn't have to wait around for weeks on end and I was able to talk with a Doctor who understood my medical needs; sadly this is not the same in Spain. Whilst I believe the Health Service in Iberia is far superior, I can't say the same for the the language barrier. The difficulties I experienced had more to do with understanding, than the service offered; this is a problem for me, since I do not have a brilliant grasp of the Spanish language. The service at Salvum Clinic, that I opted to pay for, separate from the state system, was second to none, but of course I was paying for this privilege. Sadly I was unable to use the state run services in Spain, because I was no longer paying into the social security system. This was rather a shock to me, since I was advised I could continue to use the services while actively seeking work, for a few months at least. It does however seem, I hadn't been paying into the Spanish system for far longer, a fact I wasn't aware of.

Thankfully that period of my life is in the past. The next time I return to Spain, I will be fully aware of my rights and understand the limits of my status at any given point in time. I think my life in Spain was so disjointed and difficult towards the end, that I really just didn't want to jump through anymore Spanish hoops, something I had been doing for far too long.

Today I am far happier than I have been, but do not have my partner here with me, which is hard, but I understand our circumstances dictate where we are today. That wont always be the case, but until we are able to be together, we both need to do our best to build a better future. At the moment my destiny is firmly rooted in Britain and that is where I have to concentrate my efforts. The process of reintegration has been easier than I thought and I understand I am in the right place for me now, at my time of life!

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