Before you start

Immigration Health Surcharge paid with your visa application
An address within a GP practice's catchment area
Passport and eVisa share code, though a practice should not require them to register
A UK phone number for appointment and prescription systems

Step-by-step

1
Register with a GP practice in week one
Find practices covering your postcode on the NHS website and register with one. Practices should not demand proof of immigration status, though most ask for proof of address. The city centre, Earlsdon, Canley and Tile Hill take an enormous student intake each September from two universities — register before it, not during it.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Buy a prescription prepayment certificate if you take anything regularly
England charges per item dispensed. A prepayment certificate covers unlimited NHS prescriptions for three or twelve months at a fixed price, can be paid by Direct Debit instalments, and breaks even at about two items a month. Nobody at the pharmacy counter will offer it.
OnlineWho: You
3
Know where the emergency department actually is
University Hospital Coventry at Walsgrave, on the north-east edge of the city off the A4600, holds the emergency department and the regional major trauma centre. It is a long way from Earlsdon, Canley or the university, and the ring road stands between you and it. Work out the route and the bus before you need it rather than during the emergency.
OnlineWho: You
4
Learn the 111 route before you need it
NHS 111 handles urgent problems that are not emergencies, especially out of hours, and directs you to a pharmacy, an urgent treatment centre or A&E. Turning up at Walsgrave with something 111 would have resolved means a long journey followed by a long wait as the lowest priority.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Find a dentist taking NHS patients early
NHS dental access is under real strain nationally and the West Midlands is no exception. Start looking in your first month rather than when something hurts, and understand that private treatment is the realistic fallback and is not covered by the surcharge you paid.
In personWho: You
6
Check whether you are exempt from prescription charges anyway
England exempts under-16s, over-60s, pregnant women and people with certain listed conditions, among others. The categories are broader than most people assume and worth reading before buying a certificate.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Proof of a Coventry address, for GP registration
Passport and eVisa share code
Vaccination and medical records from your home country, ideally translated
A list of your current medications by generic rather than brand name

Things most newcomers don’t know

England charges for prescriptions and the rest of the UK does not.

Scotland abolished the charge in 2011, Wales in 2007 and Northern Ireland in 2010. England still levies a per-item fee. If you take regular medication that is a real annual cost that does not exist in the other three nations, and it never appears in UK-wide relocation advice.

Source: NHS England

The prepayment certificate is the most useful thing nobody tells you.

It covers unlimited NHS prescriptions for a flat three- or twelve-month fee, breaks even at roughly two items a month, and can be paid by instalments. People on long-term medication pay per item for years without discovering it exists.

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

There is one emergency department and it is on the wrong side of the city for most newcomers.

Walsgrave is on the north-east edge; the university, Earlsdon and Canley — where a large share of arrivals live — are south and west. That is right across the city and around the ring road. Knowing the route, and knowing that an urgent treatment centre or 111 may be the better call, is worth ten minutes in your first week.

Source: community-reported

You have paid for the NHS already, but you still have to register.

The surcharge is charged per year of leave and paid up front with the visa. It entitles you to care — and then nothing happens. Until you register with a GP your only route into the system is A&E, which is the worst possible entry point for anything routine.

Source: GOV.UK — pay for UK healthcare

Common mistakes to avoid

Waiting until you are ill to register with a GP.
Trying to register in the last two weeks of September, when two universities' intakes arrive at once.
Paying per item for prescriptions when a prepayment certificate would cost less.
Setting off for an emergency department without knowing it is at Walsgrave on the far side of the city.
Assuming Scotland's, Wales's or Northern Ireland's free prescriptions apply in England — they do not.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.