Not just heart attacks, Mike. That's the main reason why I'm on this low carb diet. I know of an expat who had a stroke last year, I went to see him again yesterday he sits in a wheel-chair all day and watches the day go by. He's planning to go back to Australia but will have to prove he's fit enough to fly, I asked him if he will be staying in Aus, to my surprise he said no just want to visit family I don't have health care, only Phil-health that only covers basic hospital care and only part. If I do have an heart attack I have spare cash to fall back on. So expensive health-care and older you get more expensive it gets. I'm so worried if anything happens to my wife her parents passed away in their 60's. Wife has dual passport so going back to the UK is no problem for us.
NO, only in emergency but I know expats who have gone back for NHS treatment. I have cataracts and looking to have them done on the NHS .shhhh
Does anyone ever remember the program on NHS tourism a few years ago? One of the cases featured was a filipina who came to UK as a tourist within about a week she developed heart problems, her sister who lived in UK and invited her over signed a waiver saying she would pay for the treatment, I can't remember what she had done but once the treatment was finished she went back home and her sis paid nowt.
No anyone who leaves the UK for more than three months is supposed to notify the authorities of that absence. There are ways to regain your rights to NHS treatment but usually only if you say you are returning permantly to reside in the UK, and I don't think you get to do that multiple times, it's why I ideally want to retain a base in Scotland, initially I will only be out of the country for just under three months at a time in order to retain NHS rights but later I want to spend longer outside the country but with me returning for short stays at various times of year.
Scotland looks to be more generous, see link https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-sup...or-working-abroad#uk-pensioners-living-abroad
Wow thanks for that John, I didn't expect Scotland to have different rules on this. I still think I want to retain a base in Scotland, but this page implies that ex-pats just have to fly back to Scotland instead of England if they get sick and need treatment, they aren't saying you need to be Scottish, just a UK citizen. edit: re-read it I think it is implying that if you were travelling home for a visit i.e. a holiday, that you would get treatment so it is effectively saying that medical tourism is supported for ex-pats. Maybe there would still be a problem if you were flying back already seriously ill, it seems to imply that it is up to the GP you happen to see if you are travelling back with a pre-existing condition.
this link is also useful https://www.essexlmc.org.uk/wp-cont...toNHSHospitaltreatmentfornonresUKcitizens.pdf
Thanks for that. I'm a UK state pensioner who lives in the Philippines and have lived in the UK for more than 10 years at some point. Now, if I return to the UK for a visit am I entitled to free NHS treatment. Thanks. UK State Pensioners UK state pensioners who have lived in the UK for ten continuous years at some point in the past are entitled to ‘treatment the need for which arises during a visit to the UK’ free of charge.
"the need for which arises during a visit to the UK" in other words you are a returning tourist who arrives looking and feeling fine, during your holiday here you break your leg, you will get free NHS treatment, if you arrived and then had a heart attack they would treat you for free, I don't read that as saying if I arrived home in the UK already suffering kidney failure and requiring dialysis that they will provide dialysis for free. Under the conditions in that quote I don't think your cataracts would qualify as they couldn't just happen or arise after you arrived here.
Thanks for clarifying Jim. I don't think those links are from from the NHS or the UK government. I looked them up, they are from Essex and nothing to do with the NHS.
They are bone fide links to the NHS guidelines put out by NHS trusts, first one Scotland second one by Essex NHS trusts.
They are valid links as John says, it's just that the way they are phrased is hard to read and interpret.
So any ex-pat can go to Scotland and receive free NHS treatment? As long as they are Brits and have been living in the UK for more than 10 years and have a UK state pension or a war pension.
No not really, although the way it is expressed is slightly different in Scotland the net result is actually the same, I got over excited when I first read the Scottish page, it's the same as the English stance just in slightly different words.
I receive a UK state pension but I live abroad all or most of the time. Will I be able to get health care from the NHS when I visit Scotland? • If you need treatment for an illness or condition that develops while you are visiting Scotland, you will be able to get this from the NHS if: - you lived in the UK for more than 10 years before moving abroad, or - you worked for more than 10 years as a Crown servant before moving abroad (for example, you were an employee of HM Forces, a civil servant, or a diplomat),
