With some honourable exceptions (such as in the Nth Hampshire area) UK Nepali community members still, across all geographical areas of the information resource creation project recorded commonly at best diffidence and confusion in terms of NHS/Western, largely pharmaceutical solutions health and medical solutions. 

Many, especially UK Nepali community members who are elderly and others too with minimal English language proficiency found the NHS and GP healthcare systems ‘challenging’ – as a result dual approaches to this are commonplace. 

One of these is to generally speaking ‘tough out’ a medical need until it reaches emergency A&E admission level, and the other is to turn to Nepal family and traditional Ayurvedic doctors and medical practitioners advise what to do in terms of for example appropriate physical exercises, and what natural/Ayurvedic medicines to take – these latter are a commonplace very important item in Nepal to UK transited goods in family members and friends luggage.  Pictures below courtesy of Mr Roshan Tamrakar.

Dentistry: the UK dentistry system and services both NHS and Private do not carry a particularly good name with most UK Nepali general community members.  Excessive costs, long waits, last minute cancellations all have created this reputation. 

Consequently for all but the most unlooked for emergency dental work, most UK Nepali community members prefer to wait to have their dental including cosmetic dental needs taken care of Not in the UK, but back in Nepal where the quality of dentistry is regarded as at a general level superior to the UK.  Indeed through the course of the project, through a conversation with Dr Mark Watson (RBGE Head of Flora) it emerged that Nepal has a little known but very established reputation as a popular destination for international diplomats seeking good quality affordable dental work in comfortable surroundings.