I have been here for 18 months and I have Diabetes High blood pressure and cholestrol so I am doing well on the things you can die of front!Since I have been here I have been receiving tablets for these ailments and last November my nurse practioner asked my brother who has the same conditions that I have and attends the same surgery as I did and was asked to inform me that I needed a blood test and a blood pressure check. So off I went to Dobrich and saw Doctor Nelly and explained my situation and all the tests were completed and sent to my brother to give to the nurse practioner. She seemed satisfied with this and my usual course of tablets were sent to me via my brother.Yesterday my brother went to get my tablets from the chemist and he was told I had none so he went next door to the surgery to find out why not.
Talk about arrogance of the NHS they said that I needed to go to the UK and have my tests done there as the tests done here in Bulgaria are not accepted by the surgery doctors!!!So now I have been cut off from my regular pills and from the NHS as it would be impractical and never mind the exspense to travel to the UK for these tests.

Now I had a read up on the NHS legislation about folks living outside the UK and apparently you can only come under the NHS for 18 months if you are living outside permantly as I am. Well that is unfair as like many of you I have paid in 45 years of National Insurance stamps before I retired here and yet there are immigrants and some illegal can get free health off my back and I am refused because I like to live abroad as a retiree! It is the same for the cold weather allowance which is also unfair refusing me and many others that as well.It won't be long before they will refuse to pay the Old age pension if you live abroad to pay for our wonderful goverment and bankers debts they have left us!

I don't begrudge paying for my tablets here as they not that exspensive or paying to see the doctor but it's the principle of it all. Having said that I know of couples who have been here a lot longer than I have and are receiving NHS benifits which is OK in my book but it is just annoying that my "
Jobs worth"
of a surgery has decided to cut me off.

we had this problem, the Nhs did not want to know, to get health care in bulgaria if your on state pension, the s1 document will get you registered ( officially ) with a bulgarian gp. you are then entitled to the same health care as a bulgarian. my partner gets all his medication, some he pays for at a reduced cost and some are free. all hospital treatments such as x rays are free, stays in hospital are free, you pay for the bed per night ( 4 levs last year ) specialist consultations are free. not a lot different to the uk Nhs. i have to say the standards are basic but cannot fault the level of care by the gp.

if you are not registered with either, you will have to pay for any consultations with your gp and anything else you might need.

a friend of ours last year became ill, he got emergency heart surgery covered by his ehic card, unfortunately he developed a life threatening condition that was not classed an emergency but in need of more surgery, too ill to go to the uk, he had to have the surgery in bulgaria and it cost him 10,000 levs. thats an expense no one can afford.

you have nothing to lose by registering, the uk seems to know where you are these days.

Thanks Starlite but where to I get this SI form to register?

ring the uk works and pensions, they will send the forms direct to you. take it to your new gp and then to the local health department office, our was in dobrich. its straight forward but a bit of a paper chase. but worth it.

We got kicked out of the NHS after less than 3 months of being here. I am also a diabetic and as you say pills are easy enough to get. But the blood test strips are very, very expensive. If you buy them in the UK take out a loan you will need it. We got shopped by the DRs receptionist nice girl not But the service here is very good, in some ways better than the UK. If you need to see a specialist it is done and dusted mostly on the same day. No waiting lists. In our experience if you need a translator they find one for you there and then and are always kind and helpful. Dentist are also very good.

Thanks for your replies and I have a suggestion.Most of us who come here to retire are in the age range of a around 60 as I am and I think it would be a good idea if we could have a page on this forum that we could enter useful information about the medical side of things like the General cost of tablets where the hospitals are ,who you should contact in an emergency.I know we have a page on living in Bulgaria but it covers most aspects but I think we could do with a page for the medical side of things. Like us Tony with Diabetes I have perculiar side effects with it like I suffer from itching and swelling at times but have found a relief from this other than scratcing til I bleed which I can give advice on.Where to buy medical stuff and what the products are called and the cost would be helpful.

Just a thought.

Not sure how this suggestion could work. Maybe the members could add the names of English speaking Dr's to a list which could be held in a Medical section in the Living in Bulgaria Section. Maybe make it a sticky so it always heads the list is an idea as well. But apart from this I'm not sure that it could be adequately policed and kept accurate for others to use???

Amongst my several professions during my working life, for some time I was a Funeral Director, I must point out that I am not offering my professional services on here, albeit my top hat and tails are here with me in BG. During my time directing funerals, we used part time pall bearers and they came from all works of life, including Prison Warders to Ambulance drivers.

I got know one of the ambulance drivers quite well, he worked in London and told me that once or twice every day an American would clutch his chest outside Buckingham Palace and shout he was having a heart attack, of course he was rushed off to one of the London hospitals and received medical treatment under the NHS.

We as pensioners have done our bit and paid our taxes and I see no reason why we shouldn't be treated back in the UK, it is good enough for the rest of the world to go over and get treatment, so why not us?

tonyb60 wrote:

We got kicked out of the NHS after less than 3 months of being here. I am also a diabetic and as you say pills are easy enough to get. But the blood test strips are very, very expensive. If you buy them in the UK take out a loan you will need it. We got shopped by the DRs receptionist nice girl not But the service here is very good, in some ways better than the UK. If you need to see a specialist it is done and dusted mostly on the same day. No waiting lists. In our experience if you need a translator they find one for you there and then and are always kind and helpful. Dentist are also very good.

Tonyb60, are you talking about diabetes test strips that are used in conjunction with a blood glucose monitor? If so, they are a waste of money.

I was nursing for 29 years and have been a diabetic for the last 10 years since retiring. Never once have I used one of those monitors.

A friend of mine living in Derbyshire had been using one for four years that was sold to him via the surgery he attended. After talking to me, he asked his specialist about them and was told to give them up.

The monitors are made and manufactured by the drugs company and that is why the machine is a reasonable price and the strips are expensive for what they are.

As long as you stay on a good health diet and do a little exercise, then your tablets should keep you stable. If you want to use the strips for peace of mind then test yourself once or twice a month.

All diabetics should have a full blood test at least once a year and should see their doctor once the test results have been issued.

John

Yes I do agree with you John. But people do use these things as I did until I went into Boots the Chemist to buy some and was totally shocked at the price. As you say a bit like a home printer, the machines are cheap to buy but the inks make them the money.

I have now put a section on Medical Advice on the forum, but hopefully people will add the names of more English speaking Drs in other areas of Bulgaria. Controlling your conditions is one thing but having advice from people that can speak your lingo is much more assuring.

Sorry, but I must disagree about the blood glucose monitors. Our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12. It is different to Type 2 in the fact that the body produces absolutely no insulin, and injections of insulin are given from diagnosis. It has nothing to do with lifestyle. The monitors are a godsend to children, who do not always get an indication of a hypo. It is also beneficial to know how much insulin to inject. My mother-in-law died at the age of 49 due to complications of Type 1. Had she had the benefit of a monitor, she would have known that her levels were fluctuating wildly.
Our son had a recent retinopathy eye test, and it was not good news, partly to him rebelling as a teenager and not testing regularly.
He is only 25.
So please, don't rubbish the monitors, or mix up the two types of diabetes!