Thank you so much for the info. You have to have private cover in SA otherwise you end up going to government clinics and hospitals which are notoriously understaffed and under equipped. However, here most companies pay half towards your medical aid costs as a perk, which gets you into private clinics and hospitals. Thanks to the ANC, medical aids here may not exclude a person for any pre-existing conditions or charge more because of it!

We were thinking that we would probably have to go for private medical insurance eventually but were hoping to put that off till we find our feet. Didn't realize that it was that bad with the NHS that you cant even see a neurologist within a decent time frame. But definitely not prepared for the news that medical insurances can exlude pre-existing conditions!

Yikes! I will have to start contacting BUPA and others straight away then and find out what the situation is. Scary thought that my husband may be better off in a third world country than in the United Kingdom!