A little reminder
This is a reminder A friendly, but firm, reminder To Brits at home From a Brit abroad
Let me start by telling you a bit about me I am 31 I live and work in Shanghai, China I’ve been here 7 months now I speak a bit of Chinese
I love living abroad Before I was in London for 5 years But before that I lived in Barcelona And Buenos Aires
Don’t get me wrong It’s not that I hate the UK I just have this itch To travel To see the world I am always planning my next trip Holiday Destination Move
I worked in advertising in London My agency transferred me here So for the first time in my travels Someone else was taking care of stuff Flights, visas, shipping And travel insurance
I had a look over the policy Sure I did But to be honest I didn’t know really what I was looking for And I am young Ish And healthy So thought it would be fine
It was fine Until two weeks ago I woke up with a pain In my hip I ignored it Must’ve been the gym Right?
But by the evening Not only was it still there It was worse I couldn’t lie flat Bugger
I text an expat pal Nonchalantly “what was the name of that hospital you went to once?” “Shanghai United Family Hospital” She replies I leave my flat And get in a cab
The hospital is amazing Immaculate Friendly nurses Who speak English I relax
They take my insurance details And take a look at me I need a test A CT scan Just to check
The doctors and nurses disappear A tired looking girl In a pencil skirt turns up So the CT scan It is an expensive test She explains Right And…?
Well your insurance isn’t great You are going to have to pay Up front For this test Ok I say How much can it seriously be?
It’s 10,000 RMB
Seriously That is one thousand and sixty one pounds And seventy seven pence JUST FOR THE TEST
I pay it I have to pay it I have no choice
The CT scan shows I have appendicitis They need to operate They schedule the operation for tomorrow And begin giving me some antibiotics And some morphine
Which, By the way, Is amazing
The pencil skirt returns She looks sad So the total cost for the operation And the stay in this (lovely) hospital Where everyone speaks to me in English Is going to be 200,000 RMB
Did you get that? That is £21,242 And 14p
That’s right 20k
She is still looking at me Expectantly And my insurance? I ask her
My mouth is a little dry
It covers 30% of the cost I’ll have to ‘find’ the rest
I don’t have that money I don’t have anywhere near that money
But I can’t wait I need the operation It’s not like I can choose whether I have my appendix removed
20,000 pounds How can it cost that much?? How can anything that isn’t a house cost that much?
Of course I can go to a local hospital But the price isn’t that different And no one will speak English I panic I burst into tears And prepare myself for total bankruptcy For the next decade And prepare myself to have an operation in China
Thankfully I work for a good company A kind and compassionate company That agreed to pay The 20,000 quid For my appendectomy So everything was fine
But this brings me to my friendly reminder
The NHS Is fucking free At the point of use Consumption Whatever
When you are sick And desperate And scared And it is an emergency There is no talk of money No talk of waiting Speaking to the bank Calling a shit insurance firm in Hong Kong That don’t work Sunday nights (Why does everything shit always happen on a Sunday night?) There’s no pencil skirted bird Who wearily explains The real cost of medical care To yet another unworldly Naïve Foolish Fortunate Brit Who has never Ever realized Just how fucking blessed they are That their state Just Takes Care Of It
So this is my friendly reminder
The NHS might not be perfect Sure it needs improving Who, or what, doesn’t?
But it is the biggest fucking gift The most amazingly wonderful peace of mind That our government Affords us That when we are sick When there is an emergency We WILL be taken care of Regardless of the cost
My friendly reminder To all the Brits back home Is Never forget that Don’t take it for granted And just remember That medical care Is anything but free And that living in the UK Is a pretty amazingly wonderful Stroke of luck
Long live the NHS












