Volume 3, Issue 1
January 2010
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No Going Back......
Those of us who chose to move away from the UK and live in Roda, Corfu or anywhere else do it for a whole variety of reasons. We consider many aspects when deciding but something that is, I suspect, rarely considered is the matter of future healthcare. Is it because we know that the NHS is always there if we need it? That for six months of the year free medical treatment is little more than a 3 hour flight from our idyllic homes? Or perhaps it just doesn’t enter our minds until the unthinkable happens.
We prepare to leave behind friends and loved ones but do we realise that we also leave behind the NHS? For many Britons emigrating there is a lot of ignorance surrounding continued access to the NHS having permanently left the UK. The vast majority of people have no idea that entitlement to free NHS treatment ceases once a person has lived outside of the UK for six months. There are a very few exceptions to the rule but for the purposes of this article, it is written from the perspective of non-entitlement after 180 days of non residence in the UK.
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) also becomes invalid, it is designed for use by European holiday makers. The current UK issued card should be returned and replaced by one from the new country of residence, or an IKA book for Greece until the EHIC card is introduced.
We prepare to leave behind friends and loved ones but do we realise that we also leave behind the NHS? For many Britons emigrating there is a lot of ignorance surrounding continued access to the NHS having permanently left the UK. The vast majority of people have no idea that entitlement to free NHS treatment ceases once a person has lived outside of the UK for six months. There are a very few exceptions to the rule but for the purposes of this article, it is written from the perspective of non-entitlement after 180 days of non residence in the UK.
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) also becomes invalid, it is designed for use by European holiday makers. The current UK issued card should be returned and replaced by one from the new country of residence, or an IKA book for Greece until the EHIC card is introduced.
As pointed out by John Reid (Secretary of State for Health June 2003 - May ‘05) the NHS is a National health service, not an International one. Although rules have been in place detailing the use of the NHS by ex-pats since 1989, they have been tightened a couple of times since, the latest being 2008.
Ex-pats are only entitled to free emergency NHS treatment for issues that arise while visiting the UK, not for ongoing, pre-existing conditions unless they worsen severely during a visit, and not for urgent treatment if the condition did not commence during the holiday in the UK, nor for elective
Ex-pats are only entitled to free emergency NHS treatment for issues that arise while visiting the UK, not for ongoing, pre-existing conditions unless they worsen severely during a visit, and not for urgent treatment if the condition did not commence during the holiday in the UK, nor for elective
the local PCT (Primary Care Trust) or surrendered to the emigration officer at the airport of departure when you leave the UK.
Until recently, the time allowed for absence from the UK was only three months but that has now been extended to six months, which is surely correct, as you are can still be counted as a UK resident if you are spending six months in the UK but one day longer than that and you cease to be living in the UK for the majority of the year, so it was right to change the rules.
As a summary – Once you have been out of the United Kingdom for six months, your entitlement to free NHS treatment is cancelled, including being
Until recently, the time allowed for absence from the UK was only three months but that has now been extended to six months, which is surely correct, as you are can still be counted as a UK resident if you are spending six months in the UK but one day longer than that and you cease to be living in the UK for the majority of the year, so it was right to change the rules.
As a summary – Once you have been out of the United Kingdom for six months, your entitlement to free NHS treatment is cancelled, including being
procedures such as hip/knee replacements etc.
Non UK residents, regardless of having been a tax-payer previously, are not entitled to remain registered with a NHS GP and in fact the NHS card issued to every person on registration with a GP, should be either returned to
Non UK residents, regardless of having been a tax-payer previously, are not entitled to remain registered with a NHS GP and in fact the NHS card issued to every person on registration with a GP, should be either returned to
away from the UK for 180 days (six months) then medical attention, routinely or in an emergency, should be sought either privately or through IKA here in Corfu or by seeking private medical care in the UK. It is not legal to return to UK to use the NHS.
The sea fishing from Roda at the end of 2009 has been patchy to say the least, but January brings new possibilities and soon, local fishermen will be on the trail of cuttlefish & kalamari. Both of these cephalopods can be found in the shallow waters of St George’s Bay and cuttlefish bones can often be found along the beaches. Kalamari is a well-know favourite with tourists, but cuttlefish is less common. Both
are allowed during the annual Lenten fast in the run-up to Easter and cuttlefish is often cooked in Corfu with spinach or wild greens. Early visitors will occasionally find it on the menu at ‘OPA’ taverna, where Yiannis serves ‘soupies’ (said soopy-ez) with a spicy bourdhetto sauce. Cuttlefish, the chameleon of the sea, is a great source of trace metals, very low in saturated fat, but watch out for that cholesterol!
Cuttlefish or Kalamari?
registered with a GP. If, while visiting the UK to visit family and friends, you become ill, then emergency NHS treatment can be received without charge. This is at the discretion of the doctor to decide whether it is considered an emergency.
Once an ex-pat is living in here in Corfu and been
Once an ex-pat is living in here in Corfu and been