LMS_Health

The National Health Scheme (NHS) offers free medical treatment to EC and Commonwealth citizens. To qualify for this you'll need to register with a GP, who will register you with the NHS. You will be sent a card bearing your NHS number. To register with a doctor, go to the nearest chemist or library in your area; they will provide you with doctors’ names in your area with whom you can register. You can also look in your area's telephone directory for your local Health Services authority and ask them.

National Health Scheme, NHS, Tel: 0800 665 544

Prescriptions are subsidised and cost £4-£6, although pregnant women, mothers with babies and people with certain medical conditions are generally exempt from this.

Limited free dental care is also available under the NHS, but you also need to be registered with a dentist in your area. You can also find names and addresses of dentists at your local chemist or library. Preg-nant women, people younger than 19 in full-time education and people under 18 are usually exempt from charges.

Chemists (Pharmacies)

For minor ailments, such as light burns, blisters, coughs, and sneezes, you can save time by going to a chemist; Boots is the biggest chain. If you can't find what you need on the shelves, or are unsure of your symptoms, you'll find a trained pharmacist behind the prescription drugs counter. They'll either recommend medication, or advise you to see a doctor if they think it's serious. Note that chemists are rarely open late or on Sundays: most hospitals have 24-hour pharmacies, but may only serve patients with prescriptions.

Medical Emergencies

In a life-threatening situation call 999 from any phone to request an ambulance. For less acute situations, most London hospitals run 24-hour Accident and Emergency (A&E) or Casualty wards. If your condition isn't judged serious, be prepared to wait for hours, especially on Friday or Saturday nights.

•Medical Advisory Service, Tel: 020 8994 9874

Dental Services

•Accident and Dental Emergency 24 h service, Tel: 020 8677 8383

•Dental Emergency Care Service, Tel: 020 7955 2186

•Guy's Hospital Dental School, Tel: 020 7955 5000 (charitable founda-tion)

•The Eastman Dental Hospital - Should also be able to help you in dental emergencies, Tel: 020 7915 1000. It is free of charge, no appointment has to be made, but it works on a first-come-first-served basis.

Your Sight

An optical test is available at any optician and costs approximately £15, unless:

•You are younger than 19 and busy with full-time studies;

•You have obtained a valid exemption certificate;

•You are registered blind or partially blind;

•You are a diabetic;

•You are 40 and older and have a relative who suffers from glaucoma.

You will have to obtain a prescription before you can obtain glasses and the prescription must not be older than two years.

Eye Care Information Service, Tel: 01673 857847

Opticians

Following are High Street Opticians who provide reliable services:

•Boots Opticians

•David Clulow

•Dolland & Aitchison

•Specsavers

•Vision Express

Call 118 888, 118 111 or 118 000 to find out where the nearest one is located.

Medical Insurance

•Norwich Union

•AXA PPP

•BUPA

•Guardian Health

Call Tel: 118 888, 118 111 or 118 000 to find out where the nearest one is located.

24 Hour Hospitals

•University College Hospital, Gower St, WC1. Tel: 020 7387 9300

•Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Rd., W6. Tel: 020 8846 1234

•Guy's Hospital, St Thomas St., SE1. Tel: 020 7955 5000

•St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Rd., Tooting, SW17. Tel: 020 8672 1255

•St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace Rd., SE1. Tel: 020 7928 9292

•Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel Rd., E1. Tel: 020 7377 7000

•Royal Free Hospital, Pond St., Hampstead, NW3. Tel: 020 7794 0500

•Chelsea & Westminster, 369 Fulham Rd., SW10. Tel: 020 8746 8000

•Whipps Cross Hospital, Whipps Cross Rd., E11. Tel: 020 7476 4000

Late Chemists

For those unexpected needs:

•Boots

75 Queensway, Bayswater, W2 4QH

Monday–Saturday 09h00-22h00, Sunday 14h00-22h00

Tel: 020 7229 9266

Bayswater/Queensway Tubes

•Zafash

233-5 Old Brompton Rd., SW5 0EA

London’s only 24-hour pharmacy is open daily.

Tel: 020 73732219

Earl’s Court Tube

•Bliss Chemists

5-6 Marble Arch W1 7EL

Tel: 020 7723 6116

Marble Arch Tube

There are some 24-hour emergency medical lines you can ring if you urgently need to speak directly to a doctor: Doctors Direct, Tel: 020 7603 3332.

Vaccinations

•The Travel Clinic, 32 Berkeley St., W1X, Tel: 020 7629 6233

•Nomad’s Travellers Medical Centre, 3-4 Wellington, N8, Tel: 020 8889 7014

•Hospital of Tropical Disease, Mortimer Market, Capper St. off Tottenham Court Rd., London, WC1E 6AU, Tel: 020 7387 9300 or 020 7387 4411

•Travel Deals Travel Clinic, 194 Kensington High St., Tel: 020 7938 3999

•The Vaccination Clinic, 131-135 Earl’s Court Rd., Tel: 020 7259 2180

•Fleet Street Clinic, Fleet St., EC4Y., Tel: 020 7353 5678

Physiotherapists

If you need information regarding physiotherapists contact:

The Chartered Council of Physiotherapy, 14 Bedford Rd., W1R 4ED. Tel: 020 7242 1941, which will give you advice.

Becoming a Blood Donor

The National Blood Service collects blood from nearly two million donors each year to deliver to hospitals for use in life-saving operations.

If you are interested in becoming a blood donor, or need more information, Tel: 0345 711 711.

You can also donate blood for research, in which case you can earn up to £80 per pint. Charterhouse Clinical Research, Tel: 020 8741 7170.

Counselling & Phsycotherapy

You could at some stage need to seek counselling for a variety of reasons including:

•depression and anxiety;

•stress;

•loss or bereavement;

•relationship difficulties;

•loneliness;

•feeling an outsider;

•loss of direction in life;

•yearning or lack of fulfilment;

•blocked creativity.

Sharing these concerns with a skilled listener can lead to a deeper understanding of the problems you are facing. RE-VISION is a non-profit counselling and psychotherapy centre. Together with a counsellor you can explore the issues underlying your difficulties. The counsellor will be flexible and sensitive to your particular circumstances and will treat you as an individual, and will also treat all information as confidential. When you telephone this counselling service, a trained administrator will briefly interview you. He or she will match you with an appropriate counsellor in your area. The counsellor will then contact you to make an appointment.

Although REwVISION is a non-profit centre, there are costs involved:

Individual session: £30-£35

Concessionary rates: £7-£20 (Counselling by recently qualified counsellors)

For Complete Information:

RE-VISION, 97 Brondesbury Rd., London, NW6 6RY. Tel: 020 7624 5114