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<p>The Department engaged with 79 organisations as part of the process of reviewing
of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Amendment) Regulations
2017 and received 57 formal responses. Of these, 22 case studies included instances
where individuals were required to make advance payment for treatment that the Department
has concluded was arguably, on proper analysis, immediately necessary and/or urgent.</p><p>The
common issue in these cases is that clinicians have not fully taken into account the
date at which those seeking treatment have been expected to leave the United Kingdom,
something that national guidance is clear must be taken into consideration when making
a decision as to whether or not treatment is considered urgent. To mitigate this risk
and help ensure the regulations are applied as intended the Department has updated
its guidance, published on 24 December 2018, and is planning further updates to relevant
training material and case studies in early 2019 to ensure all relevant circumstances
are considered when deciding if a treatment is to be considered immediately necessary,
urgent or non-urgent.</p>
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