Many of you are asking questions about relatives visiting the UK and their need for local medical care. There are some circumstances in which the healthcare is provided for free. The most of this article is based on the article about Healthcare for visitors of the United Kingdom on UK Border Agency Website. Feel free to ask questions as I might be able to answer them or somone else could. Many of the below statements apply to relatives of Romanian citizens while visiting the country.

If you are a visitor to the UK or have temporary permission to live here (known as ‘limited leave to remain‘), you may be able to register with a GP in your area and receive free treatment. The GP can decide whether or not to register you. You may not be able to receive the full range of hospital treatment, because you must be a permanent resident or have lived here for a year to qualify for it. This applies even if you are a British citizen or have lived or worked here in the past.

You can find out more about this in the Department of Health’s guidance for overseas visitors.

Some health services are free of charge to everyone. These are:

• treatment given in an accident and emergency (A&E) department or in an NHS walk-in centre that provides services similar to those of an A&E department;
• treatment for certain infectious diseases (but for HIV/AIDS, only the first diagnosis and counselling that follows it are free);
• compulsory psychiatric treatment; and
• family planning services.

Certain categories of people are able to receive the full range of hospital treatment. These include asylum applicants whose application is still being considered, anyone who has lived here legally for the previous 12 months, and diplomatic staff. For the full list, see the Department of Health guidance.

A few categories of visitor can receive treatment for conditions that occurred after their arrival in the UK. This includes residents of the European Economic Area, or of countries with which the UK has bilateral healthcare agreements. The Department of Health guidance contains more details.

If you are not in one of the categories that can receive free treatment, you may be asked to pay for any hospital treatment you receive. You may therefore wish to ensure that you have health insurance to cover your stay in the UK.

In an emergency, you should go to the nearest hospital that has an A&E department. If you cannot get there yourself, phone 999 or 112 and ask for an ambulance. These calls are free from any phone, including mobile phones, but must only be used in an emergency…more

No related posts.

Stem cells are “blank” cells that can divide into any type of cells the body need to produce to regenerate after an illness…read more.

What is interesting (and I didn’t know) is that you can store these cells to be used later in life if needed.

No related posts.