GPs in local area no longer doing travel vaccines / jabs - is this allowed?

PompeyPete

As stated in the OP the only inoculations which are normally free on the NHS are the four UK standards. Anything else is chargeable to the individual and must be paid for.

Some people get completely needless expensive inoculations or preventatives, based on hearsay or a GP who's not been trained in travel medicine and simply looks in a book.

PompeyPete

Ballard wrote: »

In an ideal world every medicine would be free but we all know that that's not the case. With money being so tight for the NHS they have to cut back somewhere and travel vaccinations would seem an obvious place to save a few quid.

Travel vaccinations aren't free. The four UK standards only are normally free.

Ballard wrote: »

When all's said and done a holiday is a luxury rather than a given right. If I choose to go somewhere where getting inoculated is recommended then I don't have any problems paying for it.

There is no choice, you have to pay! Recommended [payable] Innoculations depend a lot on what your footprint is lkely to be, and your lifestyle. However, there are a lot of people who are willing to waste a lot of money or are totally averse to any risk.

Ballard wrote: »

I can see the point that the charge (or not) should be uniform and I also see that some people would save the expense and not get the jab. I haven't looked through a travel insurance policy in some time but does anyone know whether you'd generally be covered whilst abroad if you catch a disease for which you didn't get inoculated?

Read FCO Travel Advice. It gives a few clues about getting expert health advice in plenty of time prior to travel. Ignore that advice at your own risk.

DKLS

Taken from the NHS website:

Private travel vaccinations
You're likely to have to pay for travel vaccinations against:
hepatitis B when not combined with hepatitis A
Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis
meningitis C and other meningitis vaccines
rabies
tuberculosis (TB)
yellow fever
Yellow fever vaccines are only available from designated centres. The NaTHNaC website can help you find a clinic offering yellow fever vaccination.
The cost of travel vaccines at private clinics will vary, but could be around £50 for each dose of a vaccine. It's worth considering this when budgeting for your trip.

The last line being key.

Ballard

PompeyPete wrote: »

Travel vaccinations aren't free. The four UK standards only are normally free.



There is no choice, you have to pay! Recommended [payable] Innoculations depend a lot on what your footprint is lkely to be, and your lifestyle. However, there are a lot of people who are willing to waste a lot of money or are totally averse to any risk.



Read FCO Travel Advice. It gives a few clues about getting expert health advice in plenty of time prior to travel. Ignore that advice at your own risk.

I never said that they were free. What I said was that in an ideal world they would all be free. I have paid for vaccinations in the past so I am aware that some are chargeable. The point that I was trying to make was that I wouldn't have a problem paying for all travel vaccination as it's a luxury.

I'm not sure what you mean about your final point as it doesn't seem to correspond with anything that I've said.

katejo

i had this problem 2 years ago and was really surprised at the time. I agree that it is a false economy if travellers bring a disease into the country/become ill when away and then need NHS treatment on return. Do you live near a Nomad Travel clinic http://www.nomadtravel.co.uk/pg/140/Travel-Clinic? I had mine done there. If you go back and have a booster done about 6 months later, the whole vaccination may much longer than the NHS version where you don't get a booster. That's what I was told at the time.