Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making in introducing the requirement for non-UK citizens newly registered with general practitioners under the NHS general practice to inform hospitals to which they may be referred of the need to recover the cost of that treatment.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is not possible to provide data on the amounts collected for treatment of directly chargeable foreign nationals and residents of countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) by the National Health Service prior to financial year 2013-14. Since then the Department has been collecting data from NHS trusts on the amount of cash payments received in-year relating to invoices raised in current and previous years.

Figures for financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 are shown in the table below.

Source:

NHS Trust data – NHS Trust Development Authority
NHS Foundation Trust Data – Monitor

Since 6 April 2015 , temporary , non-EEA migrants coming to the United Kingdom for more than 6 months, or who apply to extend their stay in the UK, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) (unless an exemption applies) . In cash terms between 6 April 2015 and 14 March 2016, the Home Office collected IHS income, net of refunds and transferred £117.8 million to the Department for spending on the NHS.

EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the NHS providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

The Department on behalf of the UK Government reimburses other EEA countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people we are responsible for under European Union law, irrespective of nationality. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

General practitioners (GPs) have discretion to register anyone as an NHS patient, including a person not ordinarily resident in the UK, for primary medical care free at the point of delivery. Being registered with a GP does not in itself mean that the person is entitled to free NHS hospital treatment. Practices are strongly encouraged to provide NHS providers with any relevant information when they refer a patient they believe may be chargeable for secondary care.