1. Doctors (also referred to as GPs)
Your host will be able to help you sign up with a local doctor in the normal way. You will be asked to fill out a registration form and bring identification and proof of your address if possible (ID and proof of address are not a requirement for registering with a doctor). The letters GP stand for General Practitioner.
If you need more detailed information on how to do this, you can find it at the website www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/6188/Key-advice-for-Ukrainian-Refugees which also provides a link to a general leaflet on how the NHS works (in Ukrainian) and gives advice for pregnant women.
N.B. When calling the doctor’s surgery, you should indicate you need an interpreter: they can book an interpreter or get an interpreter to the phone, without charge.
2. Dentists
It can be difficult to find an NHS dentist. The government guidance for Ukrainians will refer you to https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist but this information is out of date, incomplete and a waste of your time as there are no dentists in Salisbury currently accepting new NHS patients.
You are not alone. Finding an NHS dentist in the UK is difficult for all citizens. Most dentists are now either private (i.e. expensive) or have a mixture of NHS and private patients. Some take children as NHS patients if the parent(s) are private patients, but most dentists with an NHS list are full and not accepting more patients. Therefore, there are many British people for whom dentistry is too expensive, and they rely on emergency cover only. We are not aware of any private dentists offering special help for Ukrainian refugees in Salisbury though we have recently been advised that the Borough Dental Practice in Downton offers a 50% discount to Ukrainians (see https://www.theboroughdentalpractice.co.uk/)
In Salisbury, the emergency clinic is Salisbury Dental Clinic at the Central Health clinic on Avon Approach. They will provide emergency treatment for people in pain, those who need a filling or those who have an abcess for example. Please be aware, however, it may only be a temporary filling: if so, you may well prefer to go straight to a private dentist.
We are unable to give you a simple explanation on whether you may be exempt from charges, but you can use an online eligibility checker at www.nhs.uk/CheckBeforeYouTick It takes about three minutes to work through and you will need to know how much you (and your partner if applicable) earned in your last Universal Credit period, if claiming this benefit. If you are not exempt from payments, emergency treatment will cost you £23.80. Children under 18 should not be charged.
To access this emergency treatment, you should phone (01722) 322405 after 8.30am. For weekend cover (after 5pm on Fridays), you will need to phone 111 and book an outpatient appointment.
3. Covid and other general points
Hosts will want to know whether you have had a covid vaccination. We have found that many of our guests have already had one or more, but that it took place some time ago, and you are likely to need another vaccination (often colloquially called a “jab”). Most organisations suggest checking whether you need a further vaccination through the GP, but in at least one instance locally the host was then required to phone 119, and they in turn indicated that guests should simply turn up at their local walk-in centre. At City Hall, they finally found someone who was fully conversant with the specific recommendations for individuals, and a further top up vaccination was given on the spot. It is helpful if you take your newly acquired NHS number, which you can get from your GP.
The Wiltshire Welcome pages www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/6188/Key-advice-for-Ukrainian-Refugees offer a link to a general leaflet on Covid (in Ukrainian).
In the UK, paracetamol, rest and plenty of water is considered appropriate treatment for most colds and flus. In Ukraine, many medicines are sold without a prescription, including antibiotics, and you will find that these cannot be bought over the counter here.
4. Mental Health Support
The British Red Cross has information on signs of trauma in adults and children, and provides information on organisations that support individuals experiencing this. If you are experiencing difficulties, or see them in someone else, you might find these useful.
Spiritual support can be found through Protopresbyter Bohdan Matwijczuk of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church who has now conducted two services at the Hub in the Methodist Church in St Edmund’s Church Street, and hopes to make regular monthly visits. There is the opportunity to make confession before the services which take place at 11am on Saturday mornings. Future visits will be flagged via the Hub emails and on the Hub website.
There is currently a monthly mass in Polish at St Osmund’s Roman Catholic church in Salisbury.
The Listening Place, based at the Methodist Church, provides a free confidential, non-judgemental service for anyone feeling lonely, worried, stressed or confused. It is available every Friday to coincide with the Ukrainian coffee mornings but can be accessed at other times. It provides a friendly and safe place where people can share whatever is on their mind with a trained listener. They will not interrupt, advise or judge, but will provide support to help people find their own way forward. The service is open to both guests and hosts.
Opening hours are currently:
| Monday evening: 17.30 – 1.30 Wednesday morning: 10.00 – 12.15, and Saturday morning, 10.00 – 12.15 | |
To arrange an appointment, email tlpappointments@gmail.com . or phone 01722 325294. Anyone calling in during opening hours may be offered an immediate listening if there are no other clients booked in. Alternatively, an informal chat would be possible prior to a future booking.
Local support for mental health issues is also available through Alabare: Riverside Sanctuary, Salisbury. (www.alabare.co.uk)
For young people there is information on local and national help from wwwonyourmind.org.uk, or Wiltshire CAMHS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service at www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/wilts.