๐ฌ๐ง London ยท Healthcare
Doctors, insurance and emergencies in London
The NHS is free at the point of use and gated by your GP practice, which is the single registration that matters and the one people leave too long.
The thing people get wrongAlmost nothing in the NHS reaches you until you are registered with a GP. Registration is free, does not depend on immigration status, and takes ten minutes โ but the practice must have capacity in your catchment, so do it the week you move in, not the week you fall ill.
Indicative figures
- Emergency number999 or 112
- Urgent advice line111Free, 24 hours, phone or online.
- GP appointmentFreeOnce registered; no charge at point of use.
- Prescription, Englandยฃ9.90 per item2026/27. Twelve-month prepayment certificate ยฃ114.50.
- Private GP, self-payยฃ70 โ ยฃ150Typical London consultation.
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in London before you commit to anything.
Registering with a GP
Your general practice is the gateway to referrals, prescriptions, tests and specialists. You register at a practice covering your address, usually online through the practice or the NHS website, and you are issued an NHS number if you do not already have one. Practices should not refuse you for lacking proof of address or ID, though many ask for both, and busy London practices do close their lists. Visa holders who paid the Immigration Health Surcharge use the NHS on the same terms as residents.
- Find practices by postcode on the NHS website and check which are accepting patients.
- You will be given an NHS number โ record it, you will be asked for it constantly.
- Routine appointments can be weeks out; most practices run a same-day triage queue that opens early in the morning.
Urgent care, and which number to call
999 is for emergencies and 112 works too. NHS 111 is the free 24-hour line for anything urgent but not life-threatening, and it will direct you to an urgent treatment centre, an out-of-hours GP or A&E. Going straight to A&E with something minor means a long wait behind a triage system that is working exactly as intended.
- 999 or 112: emergencies.
- 111: urgent advice, 24 hours, also available online.
- Urgent treatment centres and walk-in centres handle sprains, infections and minor injuries far faster than A&E.
Dentists, opticians and what is not free
NHS dentistry is charged in fixed bands and, in London, NHS dental places are genuinely scarce โ many new arrivals end up private by default. Eye tests and glasses are private for most adults. Prescriptions carry a flat charge per item in England, with exemptions for children, over-60s, and several other groups; a prepayment certificate is cheaper if you collect medication regularly.
- Ask a practice directly whether it is taking NHS patients; the online directory lags reality.
- Prescriptions in England cost ยฃ9.90 an item in 2026/27, frozen for a second year; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland charge nothing.
- A prescription prepayment certificate covers unlimited items: ยฃ32.05 for three months or ยฃ114.50 for twelve.
- NHS dental treatment is charged in three bands, starting with an examination band; ask the price before treatment starts.
Private cover alongside the NHS
Many employers offer private medical insurance as a benefit, and it is used mainly to skip waiting lists for consultants, scans and elective procedures rather than to replace the NHS. Emergency and complex care still runs through NHS hospitals. Individual policies exclude pre-existing conditions as standard, so read the underwriting terms rather than the headline price.
In order
- Find practices taking patients by postcode on the NHS website.
- Register with one in your first week, before you need it.
- Record your NHS number and set up the NHS App with it.
- Ask your new practice to request your records, or bring a summary and a list of current medication.
- Ask local dental practices directly whether they are taking NHS patients.
- Save 999 and 111, and find your nearest urgent treatment centre.