Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of introducing charges for non-UK citizens accessing non-life threatening treatment on the NHS on the accessibility of such treatments for such citizens who are classed as vulnerable.

Entitlement to free National Health Service care is largely based on being ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom. Being ordinarily resident means, broadly, living here on a lawful and properly settled basis as part of the regular order of his or her life for the time being, with non-European Economic Area nationals subject to immigration control also required to have an immigration status of indefinite leave to remain. Some services continue to remain free to all regardless of residency status, which currently includes primary medical services, the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases and accident and emergency services. Also, some groups of particularly vulnerable overseas visitors remain exempt from charge for all of their treatment, including refugees and persons granted asylum, failed asylum seekers receiving specified packages of state support, victims of modern slavery, including human trafficking, and children looked after by a local authority. These exemptions continue to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are able to access free healthcare whenever they need it.