Originally Posted by dunroving

NHS card doesn't prove eligibility any more than an NI card though either - plenty of expats still hold an NHS card.

My point was simply correcting a point of fact regarding the source of funding for the NHS. These threads on the NHS always end up with incorrect statements about who is eligible, who pays for it, etc.

My understanding from the multiple times these threads have come up before, and reading the UK government Web sites is:

Emergency NHS treatment is free at point of service to anyone who is in the UK, whether they are a permanent resident or a visitor

Routine NHS treatment is free at point of service to UK residents (not just citizens) only, regardless of how long they have been resident, whether they are employed, or whether they pay taxes.

If you give up UK residency, you lose eligibility for routine NHS care (even if you are a UK citizen, or pay UK taxes).

NHS is funded by taxes and NI.

Originally Posted by Mitzyboy

This may well be so, but I am aware of a number of Expats that still have homes in the UK, and they have been able to stay / register with NHS doctors and receive treatment on production of utility bills and quoting their NI number. Now these people are resident outside the UK and receive reciprocal health care as pensioners in Spain. They are therefore registered properly in both countries and receive health care in both countries.

Originally Posted by dunroving

If they have a European Health Card, yes, they will be be able to present this in order to receive reciprocal health care when visiting the UK as a nonresident of the UK, but resident in an EU country. However, they shouldn't be registered with a doctor in the UK if they aren't resident in the UK. And anyone not resident in Europe shouldn't be eligible for routine NHS treatment.

Further information at www.dh.gov.uk/travellers

Originally Posted by Mitzyboy

I know the rules DR, I'm just telling you the reality

As a UK non resident (but citizen) if you have utility bills and an NI number as well as a UK address, then you can register with a doctor, and receive normal standard NHS care

As usual in the EU, the law and what really happens do not tie up

Originally Posted by Middlemore

As a nurse who until recently worked in a London A&E, I see two main problems here.
Firstly, immigrants openly abuse the NHS system, it is common for people to arrive at Heathrow and head straight to the nearest hospital. Not for genuine emergency care, but they usually say something general like 'abdominal pain', which means they get a whole battery of tests.
Something abnormal shows up, maybe a longstanding condition, but they deny all knowledge of it. They end up getting admitted to hospital, (free), via the emergency route, and the really crafty ones then refuse to leave, so that Social Services get involved to find them somewhere to live.

I saw situations like this up to half a dozen times a day.
Some would brazenly tell me that they came to the UK because "your government give me free money, free house and free hospital".

And yet, ex-pats, who HAVE paid into the system all their working life, are denied free care.
Even as an NHS employee with 25 years service, I do not qualify for free healthcare.

Something is very wrong here.

Originally Posted by Marocco

The solution is simple: make only those who (choose to) contribute qualify for NHS care. Everybody else can buy medical insurance, buy medical care when needed, or use charity.

Originally Posted by dunroving

Contribute to what? The costs of the NHS? So the unemployed and those on benefits would be ineligible?

Originally Posted by materialcontroller

There should be a system whereby every UK resident is registered, the information is frequently reviewed and updated, as well as being readily accessible to agencies which need it such as UKBA, the NHS, Social Security, DVLA or whoever.

Originally Posted by Mitzyboy

But what good would that do?

I can tell you now that I could go to the UK tomorrow and act administratively exactly as if I was a resident there ....... whilst also being a resident here. How can they tell the difference?

When I left the UK I didn't change my medical status ... I wouldn't mind betting now that my records are with the doctor in the village I used to live in. I still have a TV licence, bank accounts, credit cards .......

Originally Posted by dunroving

Contribute to what? The costs of the NHS? So the unemployed and those on benefits would be ineligible?

Originally Posted by Marocco

Yes, and yes.

Originally Posted by Ja5on

If someone travels to the UK and buys any item that has a tax attached to it, does a portion of that pay towards the NHS? under those rules anyone visiting and paying for anything is contributing to the NHS........YAY free treatment for all!!

Originally Posted by materialcontroller

Non-EU tourists can claim back VAT at the point of departure from the UK.