Outpatients: Travel Restrictions

(asked on 19th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidance to NHS Acute (Hospital) Trusts in London to ensure that out-patient appointments are only offered to patients with Freedom Passes when travel restrictions allow.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 1st December 2020

Access to healthcare is always determined on a clinical basis and is service specific. To limit access to outpatient services only to those with a Freedom Pass will exclude a significant cohort of patients who may not require or meet the needs of getting a Freedom Pass but do have urgent clinical needs, such paediatric or cancer patients.

The Government’s advice during this current lockdown allows the public to travel for hospital, general practitioner and other medical appointments or visits, and so there are no travel restrictions in place in regard to healthcare reasons.

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