Homelessness

(asked on 12th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the process is for helping people with no fixed abode and no identification documents seeking an ordinary residence determination.


Answered by
Philip Dunne Portrait
Philip Dunne
This question was answered on 20th October 2017

Entitlement to free National Health Service care is principally based on being ‘ordinarily resident’ in the United Kingdom. Broadly, this means living here on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being, with non-European Economic Area nationals subject to immigration control also being required to have an immigration status of ‘indefinite leave to remain’. Overseas visitors, who are not ordinarily resident in the UK, are chargeable for NHS care unless an exemption applies.

There is no one single identification document that is required to be presented as evidence of ordinary residence. Guidance to NHS decision makers includes a tool with which to assess whether a person is likely to be ordinarily resident in the UK. This makes clear that a person of no fixed abode may still be considered ordinarily resident here, and the NHS should work collaboratively with the patient and consider all the facts of their circumstances in making an ordinarily resident determination. As regards whether or not a person has indefinite leave to remain in the UK, NHS staff may request this information from the Home Office, solely to assist them in making the ordinarily resident determination.

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