A friend of mine is about to move to the UK from Canada for a period of just over six months. She has a newly acquired full British passport courtesy of her father being born in England, and has a place to live (etc) already set up. She won’t be claming any benefits and hopes to get a job and pay any relevant taxes. She won’t, however, be renouncing her Canadian citizenship and fully intends to return there in mid December (in time for Christmas).
My question is… will she be covered for the same healthcare as any UK citizen? I read that every visitor to the UK has the right to emergency healthcare (like ambulances etc) but I couldn’t find much about being able to see NHS doctors.
I have checked the Citizen’s Advice Bureau web site but that just left me more confused. Some documents suggested people are covered just with a British passport, some that people are covered if they are working full time, and some that people are covered if residing here for over 6 months.
Will she need to purchase travel insurance for her stay, or should she be covered for all health eventualities?
I’d be really grateful if anyone could offer advice or point me in the right direction.
Your friend will be completely covered, the same as any other UK citizen. She will have to register with a GP if she wants to have the benefit of seeing a doctor, which just involves filling out a bunch of forms, showing some ID and in some cases proof that you live in the area. Emergency treatment in hospitals etc is similarly available to her.
What Moonshine said. I don’t hold a UK passport, nor do I have permanent residency, yet I’ve lived in the UK for six years and had no trouble getting NHS treatment (or rather, no more trouble than anyone else does, and less than many).
The problem is not coverage in the UK – that’s been discussed, any one physically present in the UK gets medical treatment.
The problem is the potential loss of coverage in Canada, if she’s gone for a certain period of time (I forget what it is.) If she’s out of the country for more than x months, then she may lose coverage under her provincial health care plan upon her return to Canada (she would need to reside in Canada for three months upon her return, to be re-enrolled in the provincial plan.)