Are you entitled to FREE NHS treatment on a spousal visa?

Just updating the link to Dept of Health policy on spouses:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/International/OverseasVisitors/Browsable/DH_4955329

for all americans living in the uk if you get home sick you have to watch micheal moore's movie sicko it is out in the usa not sure when it will be out in the uk.





 we have our house up for sale so hope to be back home in the uk by the end of the year,after over 16 years in the states

I've had mixed experiences with the NHS. On the one hand, they did an excellent job of correcting a severely broken arm I suffered from a fall. The X-rays of the pins they put in it looked like a railroad track. I later had them take most of them out, as one protruded from my elbow, making it painful for me to rest my are on it. But I have almost complete range of motion in it, which they said wouldn't be the case.

On the other hand, they completely jerked me around when I needed a hip replaced due to osteonecrosis. I eventually went private at much, much expense.

My husband has just arrived in the UK from the States on a spousal visa. He had a very serious head injury last summer for which he still has some treatment (medications) With this in mind i thought it most sensible to get him registered with our family doctor straight away....just in case. We went there with his passport/visa and was told that he couldn't receive FREE treatment on the NHS until he had a NI number and could show that he was working and had paid NI contributions. When i pointed out to them that he had only just arrived and had to find a job first, THEN he could apply for his NI number and that this could take a while (even getting an appointment for the NI number, let alone finding a job) we were told that he would have to pay for his appointments with any doctor and would also have to pay for private perscriptions for any of his medication. I pushed the matter a little further and was told that these are the new rules.....i wasn't very convinced.

Does anyone know what he is really entitled to..?

I have been looking around on line but cant seem to find the relevant info.
Any help here would be gratefully appreciated. I am just a bit worried as i am on benefits myself and cant pay for these things.
Thanks for any help
Stay safe
Jules

My wife was inthe Uk in 2006 and my GP put her down as a permenant patient of his, even though she had no documents and I told him that she was only staying for 6 months on a tourist visa.  He had no probs with that at all.  Slightly more worried about the NI number thing though.  Any idea how long it takes to get it with your spousal visa in hand?

My wife was inthe Uk in 2006 and my GP put her down as a permenant patient of his, even though she had no documents and I told him that she was only staying for 6 months on a tourist visa.  He had no probs with that at all.  Slightly more worried about the NI number thing though.  Any idea how long it takes to get it with your spousal visa in hand?

Didn't think you needed an NI Number to get NHS treatment.  Andrea arrived in the UK 2 years ago and has only just got her NI number and has had numerous GP's and trips to the Dr's.  Your NI number is NOT directly linked to receiving NHS care as far as I know.

As for getting you NI number, well, that is a challenge that many have had fun with. Andrea has been told she couldn't get an NI number until she gets work,  yet her work says she can't work without an NI number.  Fortunately it was resolved when she became self employed.  One point to note and something that amused me was that her NI interview was twice as long and twice as in depth as the interview she had to get a visa !!!

You definitely don't need a NI number to get NHS treatment. You register for an NHS number when you sign up with a GP but that's nothing to do with national insurance.

I arrived on my spousal visa in August.  I thought that the NI number had to do with healthcare...and couldn't understand why they required proof that I was seeking a job! Needless to say I was wrong.  In September applied for and received my NI number based on the fact that I was indeed looking for a job.  Note that it takes several weeks to get an interview to apply for your NI number (the fastest appointment for me was 4 weeks out).  By the time I got around to registering with my GP, I already had my NI number.  But they didn't ask for it.  They looked at my passport and my visa, and confirmed my address was in their cachement area.  The receptionist at the surgery inputted my info into the computer and that was it.  About 2 weeks later I received in the mail my National Health number.  I've already been to see the GP and no one has hinted at any charges.  I assume I'm a fully registered NHS participant.  For better or worse.

If it's anything life-changingly serious, and you can afford private insurance, I highly recommend that route. The NHS can't even keep its own staff clean enough not to spread MRSA.

If it's anything life-changingly serious, and you can afford private insurance, I highly recommend that route. The NHS can't even keep its own staff clean enough not to spread MRSA.

We've discussed this a lot here before, thisrabbitsdynamite, and I think most people realise that MRSA is a sad fact of hospitals today - both in the US and in the UK, both private and NHS.

Ok here is the updated info on this matter. I called the local GP in my area yesterday to make an appointment. I explained my situation to them and asked what documents I needed to bring along. The woman on the phone wasn't sure so she asked someone else. Came back to me and said that I would not qualify for free treatment with the NHS because I have not been here for 6 months. So I phoned up another GP to see what they would say, and they also gave me the same answer.

Today I went down there and was told once again that I did not qualify and to register once I had been here for 6 months (I've only been here for 1.5 months). I told them that I was working, had an NI number and was already contributing so why wasn't I qualified?!?!?!!!!     Especially when there are people who don't work and don't pay the NIC and they still get treated. She asked for my passport, a council tax bill (which I did have on me. I went prepared) and then walked to the other room. Came back a few minutes later with some forms to fill out and told me that they normally would not do this but since I was already contributing that they would accept me.

So are we actually entitled to free NHS treatment on spousal treatment? I would say register after 6 months I guess, according to them. 

Yes, you are.  They don't know what they are talking about.

You are entitled to NHS treatment on a spousal visa, it doesn't matter how long you've been here.  A lot of GP receptions are simply clueless on this matter, it's really shocking.

Yes. 100% you are entitled. The difficulty is that there are many, many rules for many, many different scenarios and the rules for primary care (ie GP, dentist, etc) are very, very grey and in some cases open to interpretation. However the case of a resident visa, they are very clear.

I say this in every one of these threads, but you really owe it to others in your area to ring your local Primary Care Trust and speak to their Patient Advice & Liaison (PALS) team - explain what happened and tell them which surgeries questioned you. If they're doing their job they will feed that back to the people who manage the GP contracts and spread the word....

And if there is ever any question, print out the information here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Entitlementsandcharges/OverseasVisitors/Browsable/DH_074377 this is what I refer GPs to when they ring PALS to clarify this sort of thing. It's indisputable and in this instance it's very, very clear....

Just got a registration form from our GP, but it asks for a NHS registration number. 
If they register us through immigration when we arrive, do we already have a number?  If not, do I just skip that part and return the form, or do I need to go and register somewhere else first.  Don't have my NI number yet, but have an interview for that next month. The GP said I wouldn't need one of those to register, but not sure about the NHS registration number...

Leave it blank. Registering will generate a number.