Help for my Dad

[andrewwilmot]

My father is a British Citizen who has been living overseas in recent years.  He is 76 and is receiving a UK pension.  He has retained a UK postal address with one of his sons who is resident in the UK.  He has private medical insurance in South Africa but has just left there having sold his house after my mothers death eight months ago.

My father arrived in Singapore at Xmas to visit my brother and has now been 'sectioned' in a psychiatric ward as he has been diagnosed as paranoid psychotic.  He is also suffering delayed grief from my mothers death.

The Singaporean psychiatrist is recommending a course of expensive therapy including more antipsychotic medication and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (aka shock treatment).  There are risks with the ECT and the medication route doesn’t seem the right way when there are less aggressive ways I read in Wikipedia such as cognitive behavior therapy, family therapy and even animal-assisted therapy, but there is a case for early intervention.  Has anyone had any experience of these for paranoid psychosis?

He has been in an excellent hospital in Singapore for a week and a South African insurance company is covering his costs.  The insurance company has threatened to withdraw their guarantee of cover.  My brother who lives in Singapore has found a cheaper hospital and we await the insurance company's guarantee to proceed.  There may be treatment for one to two months at £300 per day.  The current hospital charges £800/day.

Does anyone know whether my father is entitled to NHS treatment and, if so, how he goes about getting it and paying for it?  He has some money from the sale of the house in South Africa which was intended to allow him to re-house himself somewhere else.  I spoke to the NHS Health Line today and I was told that I should speak to Dad's GP for a referral to a local psychiatric ward.  Dad has not had a UK GP since 1998.  What would you suggest to allow us to establish whether the NHS is a viable option for my father?

Best wishes
Andrew (a son)

There is further detail here ... http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=club&c=3851&t=980124

[megawoman]

I .think your Dad would have to be resident in the UK to get NHS treatment. If you can bring him home and register him with a new GP he would take it from there. If he gets a UK pension he is still classed as a Uk citizen.



Good Luck

[John]

Of course  he is entitled to NHS treatment if he returns to the UK.
I would get him registered with a local doctor as soon as possible
(using that UK address). They will no doubt want to see him.
Take it from there.

But it needs to be a fresh slate on future treatment.

But I would not go into the finer details with some administrators
(only 20 percent of NHS Staff are medical) as focus should be
on health. Too much information that does concern other matters
can be used against you at a later date.

After many years there is more effort or should that just be effort
to control NHS holidaying in the UK. This is not a matter of that.

Don't be sucked in by overzealous administration who are intent
on looking good and hitting made up government targets.