Paying for travel jabs ??

cj_26hats

My doctors is saying don’t do travel vaccination’s and I have to go to a clinic is this true ? How come some people get them covered on nhs ? And do children not get them? 

Sandtree

To the best of my knowledge any jabs you are having for the luxury of a holiday is something you are supposed to pay for yourself rather than the tax payer contributing to the cost of your holiday. In practice it all comes down to your relationship with your Doc/Nurse and some will charge and others will do them for free (exc yellow fever which is more limited in where its given)

elsien

Nothing new. There are some that you’ve always had to pay for, others depend on what your GP is signed up for. 

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/

rosieprimrose

Superdrug and Boots both have travel clinics in certain branches. Superdrug will charge £20 for the appointment, if you don’t need any immunisations.  Otherwise, you pay for the immunisations required and then the appointment is free. I would assume that Boots is similar.

Our GP used to cover all of this, but no longer unsurprisingly. Unless you are sure of your immunisation record, you can ask the GP to give you a printout of your record to take to the travel clinic - in order to see if anything is in fact required.
No idea about children, but hope that helps 😀.

TELLIT01

Travel vaccination has always been charged for but, as has been said above, many GPs won't do it any more even if charging for it.

SiliconChip

TELLIT01 said:

Travel vaccination has always been charged for but, as has been said above, many GPs won't do it any more even if charging for it.

In the past it wasn't as clear cut as that. When I travelled in SE Asia for an extended period in 2008-9 I had the recommended vaccinations given by my GP, some that I paid for and some were free. They told me that the rationale was that if a disease was human - human transmissible then it would be covered by the NHS, but if not (for instance, rabies and Japanese encaphalitis) then I had to pay for them. I also had 4 months of malaria prophylaxis free of charge (daily doxycycline). Of course, budget squeezes since then may have pushed more or all of the charges onto the individual.

Edit: I suspect I've misremembered slightly, I probably had to pay prescription charges for the NHS vaccinations as I was living in Scotland at the time and it was before prescriptions were made free for everyone.

Westin

As @SiliconChip mentions, some but certainly not all, inoculations may come under the NHS but many you need to seek a private clinic.

Some information here - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/ 

When I used to travel frequently for work I used these people - https://www.masta-travel-health.com/ 

As @rosieprimrose suggests, Boots and Superdrug may offer the service in your location. 

heatherw_01

This has been the case for many years.
I have paid for jabs decades ago.

It is a holiday, so a choice, so you should have to pay imo. I say that as someone disabled with no money.
I still think it should be charged as otherwise it is us paying for people's holiday vaccinations via tax.

Doshwaster

Even if your GP does offer vaccinations (free or paid), travel health isn't usually their specialist subject so it may be worth going to a specialist clinic if you need specific advice as in some countries the risks can vary between regions and seasons.

Fortunately I did a lot of business travel in Asia about 10 years ago so my job paid for my jabs,

SiliconChip

Doshwaster said:

Even if your GP does offer vaccinations (free or paid), travel health isn't usually their specialist subject so it may be worth going to a specialist clinic if you need specific advice as in some countries the risks can vary between regions and seasons.

This is a good point. I actually did a lot of research myself in advance of approaching my GP and was able to show them a spreadsheet detailing all of the recommended vaccinations and a timeline for when they should be given including the avoidance of overlapping injections. They were very grateful for it as it was a small practice in rural Scotland and they had very little experience of the type of travel I was planning.

lisyloo

Doshwaster said:

Even if your GP does offer vaccinations (free or paid), travel health isn't usually their specialist subject so it may be worth going to a specialist clinic if you need specific advice as in some countries the risks can vary between regions and seasons.

Fortunately I did a lot of business travel in Asia about 10 years ago so my job paid for my jabs,

I haven’t been very recently but my GP would do an appointment first to research what you needed. There is an nhs website they refer to that says what is mandatory. They also gave advice on food, drinks, water etc.
So they should have access to the info (although you can do it yourself).

I agree with it being privately funded but there is also a public health argument I.e. it’s cheaper to vaccinate people than treat them afterwards.
we all know how stretched the nhs are so it’s no surprise.
l’ve always been amazed that things like flying (pilot) and scuba diving medicals have been free even if they are largely signing a form.
I guess those days are largely over.