National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1989/306 |
| Year | 1989 |
1989No. 306
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES
The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors)
Regulations 1989
3rdMarch1989
10thMarch1989
1stApril1989
The Secretary of State for Health in exercise of powers conferred by section 121 of the National Health Service Act 1977( a) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:-
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 and shall come into force on 1st April 1989.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires-
"the Act" means the National Health Service Act 1977;
"Authority" means, as the case may require, a Regional Health Authority, a District Health Authority, or a special health authority;
"child" means a person who is-
(a) under the age of sixteen; or(b) under the age of nineteen and treated for the purposes of the Child Benefit Act 1975( b), or the Child Benefit (Northern Ireland) Order 1975( c), as receiving full-time education at an educational establishment recognised under that Act or that Order;"Continental Shelf", except in reference to a designated area of the Continental Shelf, means the sea-bed and subsoil of the submarine area (other than in the Baltic or Mediterranean Seas, including the Adriatic and Aegean, or the Black Sea) adjacent to the coasts, lying north of the latitutde of 25 degrees north and between the longtitude of 30 degrees west and 35 degrees east, of the territory (including islands) of-
(a) 1977 c.49; section 121 was amended by section 7(12) and (14) of the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c.49, see section 128(1) of the National Health Service Act 1977 for the definition of "regulations".
(b) 1975 c.61.
(c) S.I. 1975/1504 (N.I. 16).
(i) any country situated on the Continent of Europe, or(ii) the Republic of Ireland,where the submarine area is outside the seaward limits of the territorial limits of those countries and the Republic of Ireland and is an area with respect to which the exercise by any of them of sovereign rights in accordance with international law is recognised by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom;
"designated area of the Continental Shelf" means any area which is for the time being designated by an Order in Council under the Continental Shelf Act 1964( a) as an area within which the rights of the United Kingdom with respect to the sea-bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised;
"member of the family", in relation to a national of a member State or a stateless person or refugee entitled to receive treatment by virtue of Regulations made by the Council of the European Communities under Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, means a member of the family as defined for the purpose of such Regulations( b);
"member State" means a member State of the Communities;
"overseas visitor" means a person not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom;
"reciprocal agreement" means arrangements mutually agreed between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom for providing health care;
"refugee" means a person who is a refugee within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951( c)and Article 1 of the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees 1967 ( d) and any other person taking refuge in the territory of a member State with leave of the Government of that State;
"services forming part of the health service" means accommodation, services and other facilities provided under section 3(1) of the Act (the Secretary of State's duty to provide accommodation and services) other than accommodation and services made available under section 65 of the Act( e) (accommodation and services for private patients);
"ship or vessel" includes hovercraft;
"stateless person" has the meaning assigned to it in article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 1954( f);
"treatment" includes medical, dental and nursing services required for the care of women who are pregnant or in childbirth or for the prevention or diagnosis of illness;
"treatment the need for which arose during the visit" means diagnosis of symptoms or signs occurring for the first time after the visitor's arrival in the United Kingdom and any other treatment which, in the opinion of a medical or dental practitioner employed by, or under contract with, an Authority, is required promptly for a condition which arose after the visitor's arrival in the United Kingdom, or became, or but for treatment would be likely to become, acutely exacerbated after such arrival.
(a) 1964 c.29.
(b) See article 1(f) of Council Regulation No. 1408/71, OJ No. L149/2, 5.7.71 (OJ/SE 1971(II) p.416) and Council Regulation No. 1390/81, OJ No. L143, 12.5.81.
(c) Cmd. 9171 of 1954.
(d) Cmnd. 3906 of 1968.
(e) Section 7(10) of the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c.49) substituted a new section 65 for sections 65 and 66 of the National Health Service Act 1977.
(f) Cmnd. 1098 of 1960.
(3) In calculating, for the purpose of any provision of these Regulations, a period of residence in the United Kingdom, any interruption by reason of temporary absence of not more than three months shall be disregarded.
(4) Unless the context otherwise requires, in these Regulations any reference to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations.
Making and recovery of charges
2.-(1) Where an Authority provides an overseas visitor with services forming part of the health service, that Authority, having determined, by means of such enquiries as it is satisfied are reasonable in all the circumstances, including the state of health of that overseas visitor, that the case is not one in which these Regulations provide for no charge to be made, shall make and recover from the person liable under regulation 7 charges for the provision of those services.
(2) An Authority which makes and recovers a charge in accordance with paragraph (1) of this regulation shall give or send to the person making the payment a receipt for the amount paid.
Services exempted from charges
3. No charge shall be made in respect of any services forming part of the health service provided for an overseas visitor-
(a) at a hospital accident and emergency department, casualty department, or dental or ophthalmic emergency department unless and until he has been accepted as an in-patient at the hospital, for treatment of the condition in respect of which such services are provided; or(b) otherwise than at, or by staff employed to work at, or under the direction of, a hospital; or(c) for treatment in respect of a disease listed in Schedule 1; or(d) at a special clinic for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases or in respect of a sexually transmitted disease by virtue of a...To continue reading
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