Traveling Abroad

www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAdviceForTravellers

Under NHS legislation, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for people when they leave the UK.

However, to ensure good patient care, the following advice is offered:

• A UK resident is entitled to medical treatment that becomes necessary, at reduced cost or sometimes free, when temporarily visiting a European Union (EU) country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. Only treatment provided under the state scheme is covered. However, to obtain treatment it is necessary to obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) prior to travel.

• GPs are not responsible for the prescribing of items required for conditions which may arise while traveling e.g. travel sickness, diarrhoea, malaria. Where appropriate, a private prescription may be given, or the patient advised to purchase the items or take advice from the community pharmacist.

• For patients travelling abroad but returning within the duration of a normal prescription supply (eg usually one and no more than three months), medication required for preexisting conditions should be provided in sufficient quantity to cover the journey. For longer visits abroad, the patient should be advised to register with a local doctor for continuing medication (which may not be free to the patient).

N.B. Not all medications are available in every country.

Advice from the NHS Executive: There is no explicit time limit on prescriptions for patients traveling abroad, but as many patients would normally be removed from a GPs list if absent for three months or more, we would not expect a prescription to be for more than three months. Of course, the actual length of any prescription would depend on the GPs clinical judgement.

• Emergency travel kits comprising such items as disposable needles, syringes, IV cannulae, sutures and dressings etc are not available on the NHS. A private prescription will be required for prophylactic travel medicines which are “Prescription Only Medicines (POMs)”

  • Many countries have strict laws regarding the carrying of drugs, particularly controlled drugs. Further advice is available from HM Customs & Excise Notice 4: Taking medicines with you when you go abroad. www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/4.htm

Other countries with reciprocal healthcare agreements with the UK

Each country has different rules about state medical provision. In some, treatment is free.In some the patient has to pay some or all of the cost, then claim a full or partial refund. The full list of countries with agreements with the UK is available on the Department of Health website. www.dh.gov.uk