Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2023 to Question 188802 on Migrants: Health Services, whether the Government has provided guidance to temporary visa holders who have paid the immigration health surcharge on accessing (a) their local GP and (b) other free NHS medical care.

The Home Office has published guidance on the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) which highlights when an IHS payer can start using the NHS and what services an IHS payer is required to pay for.

The guidance can be found below:

Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Provision of healthcare is devolved, guidance on accessing healthcare in each part of the UK is issued by the appropriate Devolved Authority. Guidance on accessing healthcare from GPs in Northern Ireland can be found below:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/your-local-doctor-gp