Tea, tea, everywhere tea...

I’ve already written about how much tea the Brits drink. But I don’t think Americans would believe just how fanatical they are about it. It is a WAY OF LIFE here. Literally. Today we went for a haircut and (as always) were offered a cup of tea as we sat down in the chair. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but how in the hell do you manage to drink a cup of tea while getting your hair cut or colored or whatever?

This past week we had to go to the hospital for a routine consultation visit for me. And the waiting room we were sitting in actually had a “tea bar” and was serving tea in china cups (not paper or plastic or styrofoam). I was in awe. Also, Paul’s dad has been in the hospital the past 2 weeks, so we’ve made numerous trips there to visit him and witness the hospital worker coming around with a tea cart to serve patients and their visitors tea, at all hours of the day.

It just boggles my mind how much tea these people drink. And yet everyone makes fun of ME for NOT drinking it. My colleagues keep saying they’ll know when I’ve really become “British” when I finally take them up on an offer to get me a tea. They keep offering and I keep declining. For now anyway.

Getting a drivers license in the UK

Today I also went to apply for my provisional drivers license (although here they spell it “licence”). My Florida license enables me to drive in the UK for just 12 months after arrival, so my time is almost up. Even though Paul has been doing most all of the driving, I still need to get my UK license before the one year is up. Otherwise I’ll be required to go through driver education and I definitely don’t want to suffer through that. Not only does it cost a small fortune and take many weeks to complete, but you are required to take lessons in a car emblazoned with big red “L”s all over it (meaning you are a LEARNER). No doubt people definitely steer clear of the learners on the road and for good reason!

Anyway, the whole process of obtaining a drivers license here is laborious. For starters, I had to go in person to the closest DVLA office (some 20 miles away) to make the application. This is because I hold a non-British passport and they have to confirm my identity. Otherwise, had I held a British passport, I could have gone to any post office, showed them my passport, and they could have confirmed my identity and sent my application off to Swansea (in Wales) where all new license applications have to get processed. Instead I had to hand over my passport, which had to be sent along with all my other paperwork and a photograph to Swansea. It can take up to 7 weeks to get my passport and provisional license sent to me. (Let’s just hope I don’t meanwhile need to leave the country urgently!)

Once I have the provisional license in hand, I can then book an appointment at the nearest driving testing office (even further away than the DVLA office I went to) to take the “theory test” (or written test). It is comprised of multiple choice questions along with a real-time hazard test whereby you watch hazardous road situations on video and identify the hazards. This theory test takes about an hour to complete.

Once you have successfully completed the theory test, you can then apply to take the “practical test” (or driving test). This too takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Once you pass this test, you can then apply for your permanent license. The whole process takes months to complete, but at least you are home-free once you have the license in hand!

Now you can see why I have procrastinated for so long on getting my UK license. (Not to mention I’ve been a bit nervous about manipulating the roundabouts!). Oh well…stay tuned to see how this one turns out.

Healthcare in England

Today I had my first visit to a NHS hospital for a routine exam. I’ve already been to my local GP on a few occasions, and to the dentist several times as well. I’ll have to say this. Having come from America where healthcare will bankrupt you, the NHS (National Health Service) in England is utopia!!! Yes, it is a socialized system and yes it does have its problems. But at least you are guaranteed healthcare should you need it, unlike in America where only those who can afford it stand a chance. What a difference.

For starters, you pay for the NHS via income taxes, same as you would pay for Social Security and Unemployment Tax in America. But then, when you require medical treatment, you simply go to the doctor, hospital or dentist, and pay NOTHING (or very little) for the visit. That in itself makes it worthwhile to me. I’m used to paying on average $100 for most doctor and dentist visits in the US, and that’s just the consultation fee … before any lab work, etc. is done. In the UK, most regular GP exams and lab tests cost NOTHING. Prescriptions cost £6.65 each AT MOST, regardless of the type of drug, and all regular dental visits (with hygiene treatment) cost a mere £15.50 each. In fact, the maximum charge for a complex course of dental treatment (such as one or more crowns) is an astounding £189.00!!! In America, the average crown cost around $800-$1000 each!

The downside to the NHS is that you sometimes have to endure waiting lists. But this normally only occurs with specialized treatment, and generally with non-life-threatening type services, like physical therapy. It only took me a couple of weeks to get in to see the local breast specialist about my breast treatment. And here it took me 2 months to get my last mammogram scheduled in America and that was after I had found a lump!

You do have the option for private healthcare in the UK. Some of the better employers do offer supplementary health insurance programs (or you can buy insurance yourself) to cover private treatment. This generally means you can get in faster to see a specialist, but doesn’t always guarantee treatment. You still have to go through your local GP to get a referral.

One thing that has struck me as light years ahead of America in terms of healthcare is the use of electronic records here in the UK. With the exception of x-rays, most medical records are kept electronically. Even when you’re sitting in the doctor’s office getting examined, he/she makes notes on the computer, not on paper records. Any paper documents received by your doctor are actually scanned into the computer and kept as an attachment to your personal record. Talk about efficiency! I don’t EVER remember a doctor or dentist in America using this method of recordkeeping.

Oh yea. Another thing. Over here the nurses do pap smears (called "smear tests"), not the doctors! And they cost NOTHING.