Living overseas visiting UK for surgery on NHS

WabbitWabbit

Not sure if this is the right place to post, please move if not.

Can someone who was born in the UK but has lived outside of Europe for the last 12 years return to the UK for surgery under the NHS?

calcotti

This may be helpful https://www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Entitlement-to-NHS-Hospital-Treatment-for-Non-Resident-UK-Citizens.pdf

It looks as if the answer may depend on what country they are living in, their residential status there and whether or not ther is a r3ciprocal health agreement.

w06

almost certainly the answer is no

nationality has no effect on entitlement, the 'test' is whether you're ordinarily resident in the uk, if you've lived overseas and intend to return overseas then you're not ordinarily resident

paddedjohn

How would the returning person be found out?

huckster

If you have treatment within NHS, normally there is a referral from a GP.

Hospitals do basic checks on ID, address etc. Hospitals do access centralised patient records.

I had a minor op and when the treatment document was printed, it had all my details showing, including name of my GP. The particular GP had not referred me, but the NHS had all my details from my NHS patient records.

Whether someone visiting the UK and receiving treatment would receive an invoice to pay, is a question we can't answer. They might have to provide their foreign address and be contacted about payment.

WabbitWabbit

Thank you for your replies. I did wonder how they would know that they lived outside the EU.
They were here about nine months ago for a couple of months and have been back here for almost a month and they are only here for surgery.

GlasweJen

WabbitWabbit wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. I did wonder how they would know that they lived outside the EU.
They were here about nine months ago for a couple of months and have been back here for almost a month and they are only here for surgery.

Well they'll be here for a while, if the surgery is non urgent they'll be placed on a waiting list like everyone else. As it's not going through A&E it's elective surgery which can be cancelled over and over if the hospital is busy (most are). Most hospitals are missing their targets for elective surgeries and some elective surgeries aren't even being done any more except for extreme cases. Our hospital has stopped stripping varicose veins for example.

FBaby

There is also the risk that they could get found out (and people do) in which case, the hospital will be in their right to send them an invoice and pursue payment.

w06

yep, they may well get away with it, I'm sure many people do, but they'd need to lie and omit to tell the truth at several points in their treatment.

If the truth does emerge then there may well be a large bill heading their way. In these cash strapped times the NHS is becoming more strict and the mechanisms for recouping costs more robust than they used to be

calcotti

See also
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-overseas-visitors-hospital-charging-regulations/summary-of-changes-made-to-the-way-the-nhs-charges-overseas-visitors-for-nhs-hospital-care
"People living outside the EEA
People who live outside the EEA, including former UK residents, should now make sure they are covered by personal health insurance, unless an exemption applies to them. Anyone who does not have insurance will be charged at 150% of the NHS national tariff for any care they receive."

TELLIT01

GlasweJen wrote: »

Well they'll be here for a while, if the surgery is non urgent they'll be placed on a waiting list like everyone else. As it's not going through A&E it's elective surgery which can be cancelled over and over if the hospital is busy (most are). Most hospitals are missing their targets for elective surgeries...

Just one example of the waiting times. My brother-in-law does a job which requires him to be on his feet all day. Hip pain was so severe that the consultant said he had to have the operation by the end of January (this was in November), cut a long story short and the operation actually happened at the end of June. Anybody coming to the UK hoping for quick treatment will need deep pockets because they will need to go private for that.