Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England seeks to recover the cost of its translation and interpretation services for patients who are not UK residents.

A person who is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom is subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 which apply charges to overseas visitors for any NHS hospital services they receive, unless an exemption category in the Charging Regulations applies.

Overseas visitors who ordinarily reside outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and who have not paid the Health Surcharge, nor meet any exemption from charge will be charged 150% of the national tariff. Charging 150% of the national tariff provides for additional administrations charges incurred with treating overseas visitors such as translation services.

Charges for overseas visitors who ordinarily reside within EEA states can be claimed from the country they normally reside in.