The Department of Health (DH) is currently consulting on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.
The consultation – Making a fair contribution – is particularly relevant to community pharmacy teams because it outlines when both European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA visitors/residents will be required to pay a prescription charge for NHS prescriptions.
The DH is looking into how it might reclaim the balance of the cost of drugs and appliances provided to EEA residents with European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC). It is also proposing to remove prescription exemptions for non-EEA residents to whom surcharge arrangements do not apply and who are not in one of the charge-exempt categories currently used in secondary care.
PSNC will be making its own response to the public consultation but others working in the community pharmacy sector may also wish to do so.
The consultation, along with details of how to respond, can be found here – you have until 7th March to respond.
Source: www.psnc.org.uk
