Collection

NHS visitor and migrant cost recovery programme

Information and resources for NHS organisations and frontline staff.

From:
Department of Health and Social Care
Published
15 October 2015
Last updated
8 October 2020 — See all updates

Migrants, visitors and former residents of the UK must pay for their care when they’re in England. In April 2015, changes were made to the way the NHS charges overseas visitors for healthcare. This is so that the NHS does not lose out on income for services these people receive.

This collection includes guidance and a range of resources, including template letters and posters, to help NHS organisations manage overseas visitors and recover the costs of healthcare where appropriate.

This video introduces overseas visitor and migrant cost recovery and highlights to whom charging regulations apply:

Introduction to overseas visitor and migrant cost recovery

You can view a version of the video with subtitles.

There are also resources available from e-Learning for Healthcare.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Regulations came into force on 29 January to add coronavirus (COVID-19) to Schedule 1 of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations.

This means, as for any other infectious disease in Schedule 1, there can be no charge made to an overseas visitor for diagnostic tests for COVID-19, even if the result is negative.

There can also be no charge for the treatment of COVID-19, if the diagnostic test is positive or if COVID-19 is otherwise diagnosed by a clinician. This includes treatment of children who develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome that is being treated as suspected COVID-19.

No charge can apply to any treatment provided for suspected COVID-19 up to the point that it is negatively diagnosed.

It is very important, for public health protection, that overseas visitors are not deterred from seeking treatment for COVID-19. Please ensure that:

  • overseas visitors are not charged for the diagnosis or treatment of COVID-19
  • patients that are known to be undergoing testing and treatment for COVID-19 only are not subject to Home Office status checks

Consultations

Charging regulations: impact and equality analyses

Guidance for NHS organisations

Resources for health professionals

Published 15 October 2015
Last updated 8 October 2020 + show all updates

  1. Updated text about diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 for overseas visitors.

  2. Updated text about diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 for overseas visitors.

  3. Added link to subtitled version of video 'Introduction to overseas visitor and migrant cost recovery'.

  4. Added video introducing overseas visitor and migrant cost recovery.

  5. Added links to 'Healthcare when leaving an immigration removal centre: guidance for detainees' and 'Healthcare for people leaving an immigration removal centre: guidance for NHS providers', under 'Guidance for NHS organisations' section.

  6. Added guidance on NHS patient debts and immigration status checks to the 'Guidance for NHS organisations' section.

  7. Existing forms and letters to doctors and patients have been published on their own pages and added to the 'Resources for health professionals' section.

  8. Added 'Windrush generation guidance for NHS staff and NHS care providers' to the collection, in the 'Guidance for NHS organisations' section.

  9. Added new group: 'Charging regulations: impact and equality analyses'.

  10. The page has been completely overhauled: 'Independent reports' section has been removed, 'Migrant access to the NHS' consultation has been removed, 'Recovering costs of NHS healthcare from visitors and migrants' guidance has been removed from the 'Resources for health professionals' section, and 'Guidance on overseas visitors hospital charging regulations' has been removed from the 'Guidance for NHS organisations'. The following new pages have been added to the 'Guidance for NHS organisations' section: 'Overseas NHS visitors: framework to support identification and upfront charging', 'Overseas NHS visitors: non-NHS bodies implementing the charging regulations', 'Ways in which people can be lawfully resident in the UK', 'How the NHS charges overseas visitors for NHS hospital care', 'Overseas chargeable patients: NHS debt and immigration rules', 'Providing healthcare for overseas visitors from the EEA: information for primary care staff', 'EHIC incentive scheme' and 'EU cross-border healthcare directive: information for NHS providers'.

  11. Added link to 'Evaluation of overseas visitor and migrant NHS cost recovery' independent report.

  12. Added links to an E-Learning for Healthcare resources, including an overseas visitors cost recovery video.

  13. Link to consultation added

  14. First published.

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