All Articles: NHS

A judgment in the High Court details multiple examples of unlawful detention of individuals re-entering the UK because an unpublished Home Office policy wrongly suggested officers had the power to stop, detain and question individuals who have unpaid NHS debt. The case is MXK & Ors, R (On the application...

31st May 2023
BY Josie Laidman

Owing a debt to the National Health Service is a ground for refusing applications for permission to enter or remain in the UK. Such debts arise because “overseas visitors” are charged for certain types of NHS treatment. The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No....

6th June 2022
BY Nath Gbikpi

The High Court in R (OK) v The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWHC 3165 has rejected another challenge to the operation of the NHS charging regulations. This claim for judicial review was brought by OK, a Nigerian man living in England since 1990 but without immigration status...

10th December 2021
BY Larry Lock

Regulation 9 of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 provides that the NHS in England cannot charge overseas visitors for treating a condition caused by torture, female genital mutilation, domestic violence or sexual violence. This is provided the overseas visitor did not travel to the UK...

23rd July 2021
BY Christine Benson

In response to growing pressure, the government announced on Monday that no immigration status checks will be carried out for migrants getting the coronavirus vaccination. While Downing Street’s press release focused on the lack of status checks, further action is required to gain the trust of those whose lives have...

11th February 2021
BY Cryton Chikoko

In R (MP) v Secretary of State for Health And Social Care [2020] EWCA Civ 1634, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision that there was no need for the government to consult the public before introducing advance charging of overseas visitors for NHS treatment. The High Court...

22nd December 2020
BY Alex Schymyck

You wait ages for a new visa route and three come along at the same time… Hot on the heels of the announcements earlier this summer of new visas for graduates and for scientists comes today’s news that the Conservatives are planning to introduce a “NHS visa” as part of...

8th November 2019
BY Joanna Hunt

Brexit notwithstanding, 2018 is likely to be remembered as the year the lid was blown on the government’s hostile environment policy. The debate about how difficult we want the lives of migrants unlawfully in the UK to be has now caught the attention of the mainstream media. It is therefore...

27th December 2018
BY Joanna Hunt

The High Court has ruled that the regulations for charging non-residents in advance for non-urgent NHS treatment are lawful. In R (MP) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2018] EWHC 3392 (Admin), decided yesterday, the court rejected a claim that the government had a duty to consult...

11th December 2018
BY Alex Schymyck

In October 2011 the Home Office amended the Immigration Rules to allow immigration applications to be refused where the NHS had notified the Secretary of State of an outstanding debt of £1,000 or more. In early 2017, this figure was reduced to £500, hot on the heels of the Immigration Health...

4th June 2018
BY John Vassiliou

The current Prime Minister coined the term “hostile environment” when she was in charge at the Home Office. It is easy to forget that these measures, aimed at making life intolerable for immigrants without status, began during the last Labour government. Tabloid hysteria about hospitals and GP surgeries clogged up...

27th November 2017
BY Joanna Hunt
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