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. Liverpool's student wards — Kensington, Wavertree, the Georgian Quarter — see a large intake each September, so register before the rush rather than after 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
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 the right service — a pharmacy, an urgent treatment centre, or A&E. Turning up at A&E with something 111 would have handled means a long wait as the lowest priority.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Find a dentist taking NHS patients early
NHS dental access is under real strain nationally and Liverpool is no exception. Start looking in your first month, not when something hurts, and understand that private treatment is the realistic fallback and is not covered by the surcharge you paid.
In personWho: You
5
Know which hospital does what
The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which finally opened in October 2022 after its original contractor collapsed, is the main adult site. Alder Hey is the children's hospital, Liverpool Women's handles maternity and gynaecology, and Liverpool Heart and Chest is a national specialist centre. Your GP refers you; knowing the map makes the referral letter make sense.
OnlineWho: 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 are worth reading before buying a certificate.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Proof of a Liverpool 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, and Wales and Northern Ireland did the same. England still levies a per-item fee. If you take regular medication that is a real annual cost that simply does not exist across the border, 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, because the incentive to mention it sits with nobody.

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

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 are registered 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

Liverpool has more specialist hospital capacity than a city its size normally does.

Alder Hey, Liverpool Women's, Liverpool Heart and Chest, the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and the tropical medicine school all sit inside or beside the city. For anything unusual you are likely to be treated locally rather than referred a hundred miles away — a genuine advantage that does not show up in cost-of-living comparisons.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Waiting until you are ill to register with a GP.
Paying per item for prescriptions when a prepayment certificate would cost less.
Assuming Scotland's free prescriptions apply in England — they do not.
Going to A&E for something NHS 111 would have resolved by phone.
Assuming the surcharge covers dentistry — NHS dental access is a separate and harder problem.

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