Having to buy your way back into the NHS

[pommekate]

Does anyone have any info on buying your way back into the NHS, When I went back to the UK for a holiday, to visit family, a couple of years ago, I had to pay to see a GP. I was told that because I had been away from the country for over a year I was no longer entitled to NHS treatment. I understand that I would need to pay for my kids as they are aussie citizens, but I am still a british citizen but I have to pay. However my aussie friends who went on a years working visa to England were entitled to free treatment under a reciprical agreement with australia for urgent necessary treatment. It seems kind of unfair when I spent years paying national insurance, never required treatment worked for the NHS for 10 years, and then had to pay 60 pounds to see a Gp for a sore throat that required antibiotics. The practice manager said the government was cracking down on brits emigrating, (especially retirees moving to spain) and then going back to the uk for medical treatment. She said us brits put a strain on resources. So if anyone was to move back permanantly would have to pay to get back in. Has anyone had experience of this?

[Guest siamsusie]

Does anyone have any info on buying your way back into the NHS, When I went back to the UK for a holiday, to visit family, a couple of years ago, I had to pay to see a GP. I was told that because I had been away from the country for over a year I was no longer entitled to NHS treatment. I understand that I would need to pay for my kids as they are aussie citizens, but I am still a british citizen but I have to pay. However my aussie friends who went on a years working visa to England were entitled to free treatment under a reciprical agreement with australia for urgent necessary treatment. It seems kind of unfair when I spent years paying national insurance, never required treatment worked for the NHS for 10 years, and then had to pay 60 pounds to see a Gp for a sore throat that required antibiotics. The practice manager said the government was cracking down on brits emigrating, (especially retirees moving to spain) and then going back to the uk for medical treatment. She said us brits put a strain on resources. So if anyone was to move back permanantly would have to pay to get back in. Has anyone had experience of this?

Hi Kate, I needed to see a GP in London last year, at no stage was I asked to pay:biggrin:but Dr. Singh did ask for a copy of my passport to ensure that I was a bone fide Brit though. No money changed hands at all.....as long as you have a uk address that should be fine and if your registering as a temporary patient then of course its extra wedge for the GP.

 

[caramac]

If you move back permanently it's different, although I'm not sure that many nhs staff really know the rules.

It used to be that you had to be resident in the UK for a year before being entitled to free care, but most people who have commented on pio don't seem to have had to fulfill this requirement and get treatment as soon as they return. My experience was that I could see a gp straight away, but when I needed an outpatient appointment I was asked if I'd been resident for the past year. Luckily I had.... by one day!

I do wonder whether you should have had to pay, especially if you are classed as Australian, under the reciprocal agreement, but I really don't know the rules. Very confusing.

[Guest proud2beaussie]

There is some information here.

NHS charges for people from abroad

Note in particular this passage:-

You can receive free NHS hospital treatment if you:-

have come to the UK to take up permanent residence, for example, if you are a former UK resident who has returned from abroad, or if you have been granted leave to enter or remain as a spouse.

 

 

 

 

That passage refers to hospital treatment but I would think that it would also apply to GP visits.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

 

Edited to add: I also found this passage in the above document about GP visits.

GPs and dentists

 

It is up to the GP or dentist whether to accept you onto their list of NHS patients. They may accept you on their list if you are living in the UK, but they don't have to.

Visitors are not usually entitled to get non-hospital treatment. For example, if you used to live in the UK and then went to live abroad, you wouldn't normally get free treatment if you came back for a visit. There are some exceptions to these rules, for example, if you need emergency treatment.

A GP may, in practice, be flexible in deciding whether you are resident in the UK, in order to qualify for free treatment. You will usually have to show that your stay in the UK has some degree of permanence and stability.

If you are a visitor in the UK for less than three months, a GP may accept you as a temporary resident. Otherwise, a GP may offer to accept you as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment.

You may have difficulty finding a GP or a dentist who is prepared to register you. In this situation you should contact your Primary Care Trust or local health board. In England and Wales, you can also get help to find a doctor from NHS Direct on 0845 46 47. In Scotland, you can contact NHS 24 on 0845 424 2424. In Northern Ireland, you should contact the Central Services Agency on 028 9032 4431, or a list of local GPs by Board area is available from the NHS Northern Ireland website at www.n-i.nhs.uk.

Even if you are accepted onto a GP or dentist's list of NHS patients, you have to pay charges for some things like prescription charges and dental treatment.

For more information about charges and the help you might get to pay for them, see Help with health costs.

 

[Guest siamsusie]

If you move back permanently it's different, although I'm not sure that many nhs staff really know the rules.

It used to be that you had to be resident in the UK for a year before being entitled to free care, but most people who have commented on pio don't seem to have had to fulfill this requirement and get treatment as soon as they return. My experience was that I could see a gp straight away, but when I needed an outpatient appointment I was asked if I'd been resident for the past year. Luckily I had.... by one day!

I do wonder whether you should have had to pay, especially if you are classed as Australian, under the reciprocal agreement, but I really don't know the rules. Very confusing.

I agree it is confusing indeed, but I was hospitalised and asked for proof of address in Australia and not an eye brow was raised. There is no way I would pay for treatment on the NHS be it a GP, private script etc.. The reciprocal agreement does kick in. Susie

[Guest Guest31881]

Does anyone have any info on buying your way back into the NHS, When I went back to the UK for a holiday, to visit family, a couple of years ago, I had to pay to see a GP. I was told that because I had been away from the country for over a year I was no longer entitled to NHS treatment. I understand that I would need to pay for my kids as they are aussie citizens, but I am still a british citizen but I have to pay. However my aussie friends who went on a years working visa to England were entitled to free treatment under a reciprical agreement with australia for urgent necessary treatment. It seems kind of unfair when I spent years paying national insurance, never required treatment worked for the NHS for 10 years, and then had to pay 60 pounds to see a Gp for a sore throat that required antibiotics. The practice manager said the government was cracking down on brits emigrating, (especially retirees moving to spain) and then going back to the uk for medical treatment. She said us brits put a strain on resources. So if anyone was to move back permanantly would have to pay to get back in. Has anyone had experience of this?

 

The practice manager needs to read the rules again, she is totally wrong, especially about the Spanish retirees, as citizens of the EEC.

 

You do not have to pay to rejoin the NHS providing you are becoming a resident. If visiting the UK you are covered by the reciprocal agreement between the two countries. The rules were tightened to stop 'medical tourism. That is to say anyone who had a holiday in the UK, from another country and decided while they are there to get a hip replacement or something equally expensive, that is where the 12 month rule applies to stop the medical tourism. Having a sore throat should have come under the reciprocal agreement for necessary treatment.

 

Just as a point of interest the NHS scheme says that any person who is staying with friends or relatives In the UK who needs to see a GP. Should contact that friend’s GP, and as a temporary visitor to that address. They are entitled to temporary registration with the GP who covers the household.

 

When I worked on the Ambulance service we came across this quite often when a visitor would call for an ambulance because they did not have a doctor. We would contact the family doctor and explain that they were visiting the address and that they needed a doctor. The doctor will require you to fill in a temporary registration form for that address, but you should not be charged where a recipricol agreement applies.

[Bobbsy]

Ditto. On our recent trip we spent six weeks back in the UK and our old GP was completely happy to see us when we needed some prescriptions (on a six month trip we just couldn't carry enough of our regular stuff without looking like smugglers) and no money changed hands (and scripts were sold at the chemist at the NHS rate).

 

Frankly, both the doctor and chemist spent more time asking how were were, how we liked Aus, how our trip was going, etc. etc. than dealing with medical matters!

 

Bob