Visitor - can't register with a GP?

I think there is a lot of confusion with most GP's on what is allowed and what isn't. The local GP here allowed my wife to register with them, she was going to register a temporary patient but as her visa is six months they just registered her a full time patient.

I told them she was not entitled to NHS but they said GP and A&E are free for all. It's only at the "point of care" that a charge comes into it.

So far my wife has only had a medical which they required to register her. But the GP wants her to come back, as he wants to check her heart (it didn't sound right during the checkup).

They say it's not billable but it worries me to death her even going...I'm not really sure how NHS debt or charges operate and I'd hate for the service to "really" be chargeable and they just don't do it or just submit it like they would a regular patient.

If anybody can tell me what to look for (should I document it all) or what I should be making sure happens I'd appreciate it.

You'll need them to write her a letter saying they are not charging her for future visa applications. 

GP service is not free and you should be paying something, though likely a very small charge (£30ish).  But if she's getting into testing and such, it could get expensive.  She should ask for a bill, pay it, and then claim through her travel insurance.

GPs can enrol for visits over 3 months. GP exams/visits are still free. Further care, including some tests, may be chargeable under certain conditions.   

*edit - grammar crisis. 

Just seeing the GP at my local healthcare centre cost me 50GBP when I was in the UK on a visitor visa for 5 weeks in 2013 with no travel insurance.  I had to pay the full price of the antibiotics I was prescribed. It was still cheaper than I would have paid to my doctor's office back in the US.

Oh, and I had to pay cash as they don't have a chip and pin/CC reader.

If anybody can tell me what to look for (should I document it all) or what I should be making sure happens I'd appreciate it.

The law changed for the NHS in April 2015 but the GPs are no immigration experts and often can't be bothered to bill, so it is up to the person to insist they pay for their treatment, although visitors to the UK have never been allowed to use the NHS for free.

Only the consultation part is free at the GP and that is to keep the UK safe from any infectious diseases, but everything else must be paid for at the full cost. Some infectious diseases are treated for free and each of the 4 countries have lists of what these are for their own NHS.




Visitor visas and short-term visas

You don’t have to pay the healthcare surcharge if you’re applying from outside the UK for a visitor visa or any visa that lasts 6 months or less.

You don’t need to use the healthcare surcharge service or get an IHS reference number for your visa application. Instead, you’ll have to pay for any healthcare you get through the NHS at the point you use it.
https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/overview

I'm starting to get really annoyed by this whole thing now. So the administrator at the local GP called the Dept of Health to get clarification after I was so insistant it wasn't free and they told her it was free 😖

So that's my GP, NHS England (2 reps) and now the Dept of Health that have all told me that my wife as a visitor from the US is entitled to use GP services for free....

Should I insist on some form of official letter? They really are starting to get pissed at me?

The GP examination is free. It's the stuff that comes after that that is chargeable. For instance if he decides your wife needs blood work, or some further treatment....those things can be chargeable.

But just going in, where they look down your throat and feel your glands....check your pulse and blood pressure...that is free.

Should I insist on some form of official letter? They really are starting to get pissed at me?

As she is only visiting, why not just have any tests she wants when she gets back home? Or go to a a private practice and ask for her to be put on as a private patient so that she is billed correctly and then use her travel insurance to pay?

Is there any reason why your wife is not on a spouse visa instead of a visitor visa? As you saw from the government link above, visitors must pay to use the NHS at the point of use. If your wife was on a spouse visa, she would have paid the Immigration Health Surchange which would then allow her to use the NHS without being billed.

So we ended up just cancelling the appointments. It's not life or death.

Like mentioned above she'll just do what's needed once she gets back home, we have to buy her a policy anyway as the 3 month grace period - where she doesn't have to hold US health insurance - ends in April.

Question for the settlement Visa. Where it asks if you have ever received treatment in the UK. We must now enter "Yes" and give the full details and address of the GP, even though it technically wasn't really treatment of anything?

So we ended up just cancelling the appointments. It's not life or death.

Like mentioned above she'll just do what's needed once she gets back home, we have to buy her a policy anyway as the 3 month grace period - where she doesn't have to hold US health insurance - ends in April.

Question for the settlement Visa. Where it asks if you have ever received treatment in the UK. We must now enter "Yes" and give the full details and address of the GP, even though it technically wasn't really treatment of anything?

Yes, as the visit will have generated an NHS number which will be found when UKVI does their checks.  It will not negatively impact the application, though I would include a short explanation of the visit in the application.