Can they have it both ways - BMA

Maybe because I was staying for 3 months and classed as a temporary resident.

Callistemon, yes I kept one medicard which I'd used. GP visits/consultations were charged for but I was reimbursed partly at any post office when I showed my card and GP letter.
Unfortunately I had to be treated for a water infection as I was in agony so used my D's GP there a most delightful Egyptian doctor.
It cost me about 18AUD for the prescription which wasn't refundable.

Thanks, Framilode, actually I was thinking more of younger people born here but who live abroad, coming bck to visit family and perhaps falling sick. I think they have to pay even if they had paid a stamp for many years before they left.

GillT57 and Sassenach If you are thinking of the Nigerian woman, she had quintuplets, not triplets and, of course, they needed special care, as did she. She came earlier in her pregnancy as a visitor and stayed with a relative so benefited from the NHS through most of the pregnancy.

No, we are not the International Health Service; the vast majority of us would take out travel insurance before going overseas and not even rely on our EHIC.

It is not up to the BMA to decide but if the Government has intent to charge those who should pay then they must set up proper systems to do so. The NHS cannot afford this.

Callistemon If you are in receipt of a British state pension and you live abroad you are still entitled toNHS treatment here on the same basis as someone who permanently resides in the UK.

Whilst resident in Spain we were entitled to treatment on their NHS. However, when attending hospital we had to take our passport and our Spanish Health card and it was always inspected at reception. If we hadn't had them we would have been presented with a bill. I really don't see why we can't do the same here.

I think if you have lived outside the UK for a certain number of years then yes, you would have to pay to visit the GP.

EllanVannin I didn't know that you can pick up a medicard as a visitor.

We do have a reciprocal arrangement with Australia for emergency treatment (having had to receive some once); anything routine would have to be paid for and any emergency that would cost more than a quick visit to A&E would have to be paid for, hence it is essential to take out travel insurance.

I wonder if they are doing this because of the administration involved which could take up much of their time?

I think we need to get some perspective over this. The motion at the conference means little in terms of changes to NHS policy and is likely more a case of the doctors shaking their fists at the government for the shortages in funding and the oppressive way they were treated by Jeremy Hunt. Doctors cannot be expected to decide who is and isn't to receive treatment, it is contrary to the Hippocratic Oath apart from anything else, BUT, I do agree that there should be some attempts to bill home countries when a foreign national uses the NHS when in the UK. As for the African woman with triplets, she must have either concealed the pregnancy or given birth very prematurely because most airlines do not let you fly beyond a certain stage of pregnancy. Some other stories though, are just that, stories, printed in the predictable newspapers to stir up ill feelings. It is a very difficult job to ask if someone is entitled to NHS treatment; would you ask the West Indian man and then discover he has been living here for 60 years since he came over on the Windrush and has paid tax and NIC all his life? Would you ask the Romanian woman with emergency gall stones and then find out that she is actually a theatre nurse in the NHS (happened to my daughter's friend). Not a judgement I would like to make!

TerriBull I agree but every year there are stories in the press about raising money for some tourist to pay their medical bills/ fly them home because they didn’t take out insurance. I don’t know how they dare - plus in some countries if you are not insured the care you would get might be very second rate

All I know is that whenever we've been to America, or anywhere outside the EU, but particularly the US, we have to take out medical insurance for squillions should it be required, I wouldn't dare travel without it.

This was in Scotland so maybe you're right about that, Suziewoozie.

Apologies for being Anglocentric

Do you live in Wales or Scotland as the rules may be different there?

I'm surprised to learn that GP care is free for everyone. My son, who is British but has lived in the US for over 15 years, developed shingles when he was staying with us. He saw our GP but he had to pay for the appointment. It wasn't a massive charge, just a two figure sum, but he definitely had to pay.

Otoh, when my dh forgot his medication one time when we visited the US, it cost us £400 just to get a prescription for a 10 day supply of a common drug ! Luckily health insurance covered it.

I don’t think there’s any suggestions for GP care to be other than free for everyone. The focus is all on secondary care. I agree that it seems a pity that insured overseas visitors can’t pay if they want to but maybe if a hospital has hardly any cases like this it simply isn’t worth the bother. Especially for a one-off A and E attendance - there’s a cost to generating the bill for one thing

you are right suzie - it is horrendously complex in real life.
GPs feel that a) it is not their job to check the status of patients and b) they do not have the time, the staff, etc, to do the checks- extra staff would have to be appointed and trained - and who would pay for those? + extra accomodation. a dedicated room, etc, etc.

Secondly, if you do have sick people in the community- be it HIV, TB, measles, or any communicable disease- is it best to treat and therefore control the spread, educate, etc- or not treat and allow risk of contamination.

It sounds simple, but it is certainly not.

However, it is ridiculous that overseas people with holiday insurance who offer to pay, as they are fully covered- are told 'not to worry, we can't be bothered' ... which I have witnessed with my own eyes at A&E in Bedford.

GP surgery. Had one man who brought his whole family (just occurred to me that there was no way of checking if they were relatives!) one at a time to get all their ills treated and medication put on repeat. There were over 30 people registered at his 3 bed semi though a colleague who lived nearby said that she hadn’t noticed anyone apart from his immediate family and grandma.

GPs can’t charge I believe so that’s all the training they need. In hospitals I believe there’s a specific member of staff to do this job and looking at my link it is horrendously complex.

The case of the pregnant African woman - I wondered at the time why we don’t hold airlines responsible in cases like this?

I was in the UK for a month a few years ago I needed a blood test every second/third day. I went to my Mothers doctor and they refused to accept my health insurance for payment. The Receptionist was very patronising, 'you don't have to pay here dear'.
I had recently had a double pulmonary embollism, and have an artificial heart valve so take an anti-coagulent (Sintrom).
I was annoyed as I pay my 6€ a month health insurance happily here and still feel guilty about 'using' the NHS.
Perhaps some staff training in claiming costs from abroad might help.

Anyone who carries a health insurance card can be treated here if they're visiting for less than 3 months. Always supposing that a GP is prepared to treat someone as a temporary resident.

Any treatment given is charged to the permanent country of residence. I used to stamp such case-notes where a person from another country has received treatment then the secretary would send the billing to the NHS in that country.

As soon as I landed in Oz, I obtained a medicard in case I had to use the GP/NHS. You have to pay upfront there but get a percentage back,except on prescriptions.

Might I add that there have been rows over discrimination in treating some of those from abroad owing to language problems where the patient was " unaware " of charges for both an illness/injury and an interpreter and a refusal to pay because of this so I imagine because of the hassall it created, decided against charging. Well that's one way of getting out of paying !

I get so angry with 'health tourists' who come to our country for medical procedures then do a runner without paying, completely taking advantage of our great NHS. The African woman who came here almost ready to have her triplets comes to mind. She gave birth here, then her children had to be cared for till they were old enough to go home, all at our expense and, of course, the cost of it all was never recovered.
A few years ago, my daughter took ill with heat exhaustion on a coach tour in Yosemite in the US and had to be taken to the clinic there. Before they would even look at her, we had to produce our health insurance. Luckily the £2,700 we were billed for, was picked up by the insurance. When we go abroad, we expect to pay for any treatment, why do people from other countries expect our medical treatment to be free? I agree that unexpected injuries, conditions etc are a different matter but we really should pursue these people who are just taking the proverbial

This is interesting - it says GPs can’t charge anyway

www.gponline.com/new-nhs-rules-charging-overseas-visitors-affect-gps/article/1448353

Sussex are you talking about GP surgeries or hospitals. I think the issues are different in both settings.

There was thatt poor Windrush man who was denied ongoing cancer treatment unless he paid £54000 upfront and then it turned out he was fully entitled to be living here anyway.

Would disagree with Susie. I would prepare a bill for overseas patients, who were usually quite prepared to pay, and if the GP spotted it he (interestly not so with the She’s) would make an issue of tearing it up and saying it was not necessary. In that case the money should come out of their mind boggingly high salaries.