GPC has been made aware that some NHS Trust
Overseas Visitor Managers (OVMs – staff member(s) responsible for charging
overseas patients for NHS treatment in hospitals) have written to GP practices
requesting their help in identifying whether patients are eligible for free NHS
care. Specifically, the OVMs have asked GPs to note on referrals that patients
are ‘overseas visitors’ if they have been resident in the UK for less than 6 months.
We want to reassure GPs that this is
absolutely not their responsibility and that they are not required to do so.
Guidance from the Department of Health and Social
Care is explicitly clear that the responsibility for determining a patient’s
eligibility for NHS care lies with the Trust and never with a GP or GP practice.
This guidance also clarifies that the GMS1 supplementary questions regarding a
patient’s eligibility for free care are not required to be completed before a
patient can register with a GP practice, and that this should be made clear to
prospective patients.
The BMA has also produced specific guidance on access to healthcare for
overseas patients, available here. If you have any questions on
this , or have examples of OVMs approaching your practice please
let the LMC know and also share them with tbramwell@bma.org.uk