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Private Patients: Guidance for Overseas Visitors to the UK

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The National Health Service (NHS) provides healthcare for people who live in the United Kingdom.

People who do not normally live in this country are not automatically entitled to use the NHS free of charge, regardless of their nationality or whether they hold a British passport or have lived and paid taxes in the UK previously.

The law places an obligation on NHS Trusts to identify if people using NHS services are normally resident in the UK. If they are not then charges may be applicable for the NHS services provided. When this is the case the Trust has no alternative but to charge the person liable for the costs of the NHS services. It is the traveller’s responsibility to have adequate travel insurance to cover the duration of their stay in the UK.

Some NHS services provided in NHS Trusts are not charged for, regardless of the status of the patient as follows:

  • Treatment in an Accident & Emergency Department. This exemption from charges ceases to apply once a patient is admitted to a hospital ward or given an outpatients appointment.
  • Treatment given by someone who is not employed by the Trust.
  • Family planning services
  • Certain diseases where treatment is necessary to protect the wider public health eg.
  • Food poisoning, Malaria, Tuberculosis etc
  • Treatment given in, or as the result of a referral from, a sexually Transmitted Diseases clinic. This does not apply to treatment for HIV positive patients, as any NHS treatment they receive, including the cost of drugs beyond the initial diagnostic test and any associated counselling, is chargeable.
  • Treatment given to people detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983
  • Treatment given for mental health problems as part of a court probation order.

There are however specific circumstances when some patients will be exempt from paying charges ie people who are visiting from an EEA country with which the UK hold a reciprocal agreement. Therefore the Trusts Overseas Officer will interview the patient to establish if they are exempt from charges according to the regulations provided by the Department of Health.

arrow Further detailed information on the overseas regulations can be found at www.dh.gov.uk

Information provided from ‘Implementing the Overseas Visitors Hospital Charging Regulations, 2004.