Health Checks Outside China

Rather than piggybacking on another thread, I think that it may be helpful to have a new one for my question.

I have a new job in China. The University are insisting on a health check before they can get the FEC needed for my letter of invitation, Z visa etc. This has been covered in other threads in the past.

Here's my question. Where should I get the health check done in The UK?. The University are refusing to pay for the thing, (although I think I may refuse their refusal) but can anybody share what they did to get the health check in the UK?

-Where did they go?
-How much did it cost?
-How long did they have to wait for a) an appointment , b) the results


Obviously this thread might be helpful as a source of information about health checks in other countries, but I need some Blighty-centric info at the moment.

Perhaps just a 'I'm not dying' note from a uk doctor would suffice.
whatever you do in 5he UK, the psb will want a chinese healthcheck regardless, to cover the time of the uk check to arriving in china. even if its only a day, cos you could catch anything, anytime!

It seems they want the full health check, and they've sent me a standard form with the Chinese terms translated and no explanations.

So, how did people get the form filled in?

I did mine in America before I came here. My doc was nice because you need to say the results of the X-ray and ultrasound but you don't need to attach proof. So he just filled in "no problems detected" and I didn't have to do the tests. I don't know if you could ask your dr for that? Or maybe you have a doctor friend? Everyone knows its bullshit anyway, so I think they are willing to fudge it a little.

Mr. Benn,
My last one was in Australia on our public health system, which I believe is similar to yours? Meaning I didn't pay.
I visited my local G.P., who I knew from years gone by and explained what the form was and also told her that all the tests would be repeated as soon as I arrived in China. She had the blood tests taken at her own clinic and sent them to a pathology centre, did the rudimentary items in her office, height, weight, heart rate, lung condition, blah blah, then the stupid questions, do you have psychotic episodes? Do you have rabies? I'm sure you have exactly the same form to fill out? Anything that involved additional drama, time or money she answered, same as Borkya's doctor, 'nothing detected'.

I think the main thing was my doctor knowing that it would all be done a second time as soon as I arrived in China, she was concerned about my well being, but also her own professional integrity by letting an unwell patient slip through the gaps with an undetected medical issue.
It was in fact those blood tests that discovered my Graves Disease and I had 3 weeks before my departure date to have my thyroid removed and to stabilise, so I say Yaay, the health check.
Local G.P., way to go.
Rattie and Kostya xx

Yeah, but I've only been with my GP for about 2 months. They don't have my previous medical records. Apparantly the time they take to arrive ranges between 2 weeks and never. I suspect they went missing many years ago. I've travelled around quite a bit.

So my GP can fill in almost none of the form.

It's a really good job, but it could all fall apart because of this.

Last time I had it done was in Australia, but away from my home state. I showed the GP a form I downloaded from some embassy site somewhere. I assured him I needed really only his signature and the tests would be repeated in China. He was, probably rightly, unwilling to put his name to a  presumably legal document without actually checking what it said he checked. Thus, I had whatever of the tests he could make sense of done there. (It was worth it in a sense - from the blood test he discovered a particular vitamin deficiency and I got some shots that put me back into a physical gear I hadn't known I lacked.)

Looks like I'm going to have to go to London and get a health check done at a Harley St clinic, which will cost £375 (+ travel to London).

The University have got me in a corner because I really want to work there and it's probably too late to get another job now.

Anyway, my reason for starting this thread isn't simply to gripe about it.

I wonder how widespread this is. I certainly didn't need to have a health check done in the Uk before my first job in China (Ningbo). However the new law states that

Employment license applicants: Rules require a health certificate as part of the application for an employment license. (1996 regs on the Employment of Foreigners, art. 11).

Now, this is my research, not the Uni's. I think some people take the view that the following should be the key element to this

Visa applicants: Under prior rules, foreigners coming to China for residence one year or longer should, when applying for visas at the Chinese embassy or other visa issuing agency abroad, get a medical exam. (2010 Implementing Rules, art. 6). Under the new regulations, this is no longer a requirement. Now, a visa-issuing agency will require a medical exam only if the officer has particular concerns about the applicant’s health condition.

I am currently writing a book on 'Teaching in China' and I am tempted to say that teachers should insist on the employer paying this cost.

At the very least, people coming to work here should be prepared for this potential hiccup. I appreciate that everybody else found a cheaper way around this, based on having been with a GP for a while.

I have the following questions.

In the last 6 months (ie primarily jobs started last September) have people coming to China on a new visa (ie not transfers or renewed) had to get a medical check?

Do you think that job applicants should insist on the employer paying it? (It's not a life ending problem for me, but it could be plain impossible for others).

I have never heard of an employer paying for a health check outside of china, and I can't imagine they ever will. It's way too much of a crap shoot based on home country. In america, if you have no medical insurance, it could be thousands of dollars if you actually have all the tests. Just to see my doctor to fill out the forms would cost me $400 for the visit. No school wants you that bad.

In Canada, my health exam (with the lab tests) required pre-China Z visa, cost $327 CAD. I was not covered by the provincial Medical Services Plan as I had been working in Korea for six years immediately before.

I processed a new visa back in the states in August.  No health check required until I arrived.

My Z visa entry in 2010 (non-teaching) didn't require an advanced health check, but I did have to go through the usual probing at the local Chinese Medical Exams for Silly Foreigners Clinic after arriving before they'd let me have my res permit.

I suspect the advanced screening requirement may come down to what percentage of Z visas failed to convert to res permits due to health issues - either at your school or at the local PSB office.

Hello I'm in the exact same quandary.  The university said they could waive their request for a med form.  Will a Z visa application from London still require it.  Ive spent a week trying to get a definite answer...the clock is ticking....

You don't need a health check for the Z visa. However you do need an invitation letter from the Foreign Affairs Office for the Z visa, and the FAO may ask for a health check from your home country.

So, as long as the Uni are saying that they'll send you the paperwork without a health check, you're fine. You won't need one.

Until you get to China. You'll definitely have one during your first couple of weeks here.

Incidentally I did need one, and it cost £375 plus the cost of travelling to London.

Just looking into this now - i'm a UK citizen currently located in Ireland (so will have to pay and no 'family' doctor). Even if i was with 'my own' GP in the UK, i've been with the practice for 4 years and never actually had an appointment - the Joys of being a Reiki practioner - so not much better (though possibly cheaper?).