Right to see specialists on the NHS

[mark83]

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine (Irish citizen who has been resident in the USA for many years) has just relocated to the UK, where she is now in full time employment. She went to her GP and asked to be referred to a neurologist because of a long-standing medical problem, but her GP told her she is not allowed to see a specialist until she has been in the country for 12 months, and that her only option is to use private medical insurance. It seems to me that this cannot possibly be right -- isn't this illegal? Surely any EU citizen in the UK exercising treaty rights has a full right to health care on the NHS?

Can anyone confirm whether or not this makes any sense?

Thanks very much!
Mark

[MPH80]

The right to see a specialist is, indeed, restricted on residence.

See here: http://www.hpa.org.uk/MigrantHealthGuid ... ToNHSCare/

[mark83]

Hmm, but what do you have to do to be considered 'ordinarily resident' for the purpose of NHS coverage?

According to this page:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/h ... abroad.htm
it would seem that if you are living in the UK and working, then you should be entitled to full NHS coverage.

Surely that must be right, since the purpose of restricting coverage for short-term visitors is just to deter health tourists?

[Amber]

Health services circular HSC 1999/018 refers mainly to people who are not classified as resident. It states (in paragraphs 2 and 3):

The National Health Service is primarily for the benefit of people who live in this country. It is therefore considered that eligibility to receive free medical treatment should relate to whether a person is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom (UK) and not to nationality, the payment of National Insurance contributions or taxes.
The courts have decided that a person is regarded as “ordinarily resident” in the UK if he or she is lawfully living in the UK voluntarily and for a settled purpose as part of the regular order of his or her life for the time being. A person must have an identifiable purpose for his or her residence here and that purpose must have a sufficient degree of continuity to be properly described as settled. It is unlikely that anyone coming to live in the UK, intending to stay for less than 6 months, will fulfil these criteria.

Therefore as you are working and assuming you intend to stay for 6 or more months, you should be regarded as being ordinarily resident.

Show your GP this and state you want a referral.