I presume that the OP has made an FLR(HR) or FLR(IR) application. If they made an ADR application, no IHS is payable. So I presume that it is not that.
daizar wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:18 pm
We have already paid the NHS surcharge but is it valid on day 1 or day of visa approval?
It is valid from the day of visa approval, which may take quite a while, as visitors are typically not allowed to switch to another visa while in the UK (plus it is August and most Home Office staff will be on holiday).
Until the visa is approved, an in-time applicant in the UK remains on the same terms and conditions as the their previous visa. So, in this case, your mother would remain under the terms of the visit visa till the time her application is decided.
daizar wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:18 pm
I have asked the GP if we are entitled and been told, to leave it with them as they will provide her care as she is vulnerable and unable to wait any longer.
Keep in mind that doctors are not knowledgeable about immigration costs and payable fees.
What will generally happen is that any billable services provided to your mother will be billed by the NHS Trust, which will have their own accounting team. And visitors are normally billed at 150% of cost.
The doctor will and should only look at the medical side of things. It is your mother and you, and the NHS Trust, who will have to look at the bills and how to pay for them.
Also see the
guidance on implementing the overseas visitor charging regulations.
(Page 109 of the guidance linked to above)
The role of GPs and primary care
A patient does not need to be ordinarily resident in the UK to be eligible for NHS primary medical care. Therefore, anybody in England, including overseas visitors, may fully register as an NHS patient or as a temporary resident if they are to be in an area for between 24 hours and three months, and consult with a GP without charge.
This applies even if they may be chargeable for non-exempt relevant services. No registration application can be refused on the grounds of race, gender, class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, diversity or medical condition. In reality, this means that the practice’s discretion to refuse a patient is limited. There is no minimum period that a person needs to have been in the UK before a GP can register them, although practices may wish to consider the length of time the patient anticipates spending in the practice area when deciding whether to register the patient as a full or temporary patient.
Furthermore, GPs have a duty to provide free of charge treatment which they consider to be immediately necessary or an emergency, regardless of whether that person is an overseas visitor or registered with that practice. For further information on patient registration, please refer to Patient Registration: Standard Operating Principles for Primary Medical Care (General Practice) (2015) published by NHS England at:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/?s=Standard+ ... dical+Care
Being registered with a GP, or having an NHS number, does not give a person automatic entitlement to free treatment outside the GP practice. OVMs should ensure that local GPs understand this so that they do not unintentionally misinform their patients regarding charges outside the GP practice. Further, where the patient has indicated their consent by way of the patient declaration on the GSM1 form, GPs may identify in the referral letter any patient that may be an overseas visitor or is a qualifying EU or EFTA visitor.
...
However, GPs should not be discouraged from referring their patients to the relevant body.
It is the relevant body’s duty, not the GP’s, to establish entitlement for free treatment outside the GP practice. Furthermore, neither relevant bodies nor anyone acting on their behalf should imply that a particular patient should not be registered with a GP practice as that is exclusively a matter for that GP.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.
