Overseas patients

Entitlement to free NHS treatment

The NHS provides free hospital treatment to people who live in the UK permanently. You must live here lawfully and on a settled basis to receive free treatment. If you are not ordinarily resident in the UK, you may have to pay for your hospital treatment.

NHS trusts have a statutory obligation to identify patients who are not entitled to free NHS treatment and to charge them for the treatment they receive.

We will always provide treatment that is immediately necessary or urgent but we reserve the right not to provide treatment that, in the opinion of a clinician, is not immediately necessary or urgent. In this event we will not provide care until the cost has been paid in full, in advance.

Emergency and maternity treatment is regarded as 'immediately necessary or urgent' and NHS care will always be provided. Treatment in our emergency department (A&E) is exempt from charges, but patients receiving any other emergency care, including maternity, will be charged if they are not eligible for free treatment.

To establish you eligibility, we may ask you questions about your residential status when you register for a clinical appointment. This can apply to any patient regardless of nationality or if you've paid National Insurance contributions or taxes in the past.

We always ask new maternity patients to provide 2 documents as evidence of their identity and address at their appointment for a 12-week scan.

Visitors to the UK

There are a number of circumstances when you might still be entitled to free healthcare.

• If you are visiting the UK and you normally live in a country with a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK, you might be entitled to free healthcare if you become unwell during your visit.
• If you are visiting the UK and you normally live in a country that is a member of the European Economic Area healthcare arrangement you will be entitled to free healthcare if you have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This card covers emergency treatment only (not pre-planned). You need to bring this card with you to hospital – it must be in your name and within the expiry date.
• You are a refugee or an asylum seeker whose formal application to the Home Office is being considered. A refugee is someone who has been granted asylum in this country. If you are a refugee or an asylum seeker, you will still have to pay for all prescribed medications.

You may be entitled to free healthcare if you have come to study or take up employment in the UK. You need to show evidence, such as a payslip, that you are working for a UK-based employer. Your ‘right to work’ does not count as evidence in this case. If you are studying full-time you need to show evidence that you are attending a full-time course lasting at least six months.

How to prove you are entitled to free NHS care

If you have received a request to bring your identification documents you should bring these to your first appointment.

To help us to check if you are entitled to free healthcare, you will need to bring two separate documents to your appointment – one to prove your identity and one to prove your address (residency). See section below for which documents you can bring.

All patients admitted to our hospitals, whatever their nationality and residence status, are required to provide correct information when registering their details. If you are living lawfully with a settled purpose in the UK, or are a visitor in one of the categories above, you should be prepared to provide evidence.

Acceptable identification documents

Please bring at least 1 valid document from each of the lists below.

Important information

We may provide non-clinical information about you to external agencies for:

• the purpose of confirming your entitlement to free NHS treatment, or
• to recover debts owed to us for treatment provided

We always try to recover monies owed for treatment provided. We may use external debt collection agencies or take court action.

We always advise the Home Office about outstanding debts in excess of £500 for more than 2 months. The Home Office will prevent you from returning to the UK for as long as this debt remains unpaid.