United Kingdom

If you need to see a doctor, make an appointment with a general practitioner (GP) who has an agreement with the NHS. When you show your European Health Insurance Card and ID at the appointment, treatment is free of charge.

To see a specialist, you usually need a GP´s referral. If your treatment lasts for over 14 days, you need to register as a patient either temporarily (for less than three months) or permanently. You can find more information about booking an appointment and registering as a patient on the NHS website.

In the case of relatively minor injuries, you can also visit a walk-in centre in larger towns. These will treat you without an appointment, free of charge.

If you need dental care, go to a dentist contracted by the NHS. You must register as a patient before seeing an NHS dentist. When booking an appointment, you should mention that you want treatment as an NHS patient.

Show your European Health Insurance Card and ID at the appointment. You will pay a standard non-refundable charge for all NHS dental treatment that is clinically necessary.

In addition to doctors, nurses are allowed to prescribe medication for minor illnesses. When you go to a pharmacy to collect your prescription medicines, present your European Health Insurance Card and ID.

You have to pay a non-refundable charge for prescriptions at the pharmacy. It is possible to get an exemption from the cost of medicine. You can ask your doctor about this when they are writing the prescription. The right to exemption is also checked at the pharmacy.

Prescriptions issued by a doctor or nurse are valid for six months. Controlled drug prescriptions are valid for 28 days. These typically include painkillers that carry a risk of misuse.

A list of controlled drugs is available on the official GOV.UK website.

In general, apart from emergency care, you can access hospital treatment if referred by a doctor, a dentist, or an optician. In emergencies, you can go directly to the hospital´s Accident & Emergency department. Not all hospitals have one.

When you go to a hospital, show your European Health Insurance Card and ID to obtain clinically necessary treatment and medicines free of charge. You can usually choose the hospital, as long as the unit has a contract with the NHS.

In emergencies, ambulance transport to the hospital is free. If your illness requires you to use special transport when returning to Finland, you will be liable for the travel costs in their entirety. It is recommended that you take out travel insurance that covers these costs.

Remember to make sure that your patient data is transferred between countries. You can provide those responsible for your follow-up care or your health centre with the patient records concerning the treatment you received abroad. If the patient records need to be translated, you will be responsible for arranging that yourself.

• In England, the quality of treatment is monitored by the Care Quality Commission, which oversees and inspects the quality and safety of care provided by all healthcare service providers operating in the region. The website also provides regularly updated quality data and reports on all providers.
• In Northern Ireland, treatment is monitored by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), which regularly inspects and reviews health and social care providers in the region.
• In Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) monitors services provided by both the NHS and the private sector.
• In Wales, the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) is the independent inspectorate and regulator of healthcare services.

In the event of a treatment injury, the legislation and patient insurance of the country providing the treatment will always apply. If you are dissatisfied with the treatment you received, you should first try to resolve the issue directly with the treatment provider.

The regional governments (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) make decisions related to health policy in the United Kingdom. Despite the diversity in how the systems are organised, some aspects of the regulatory framework continue to operate on a United Kingdom-wide basis in line with European standards.

The National Health Service (NHS) is responsible for organising public healthcare. Each of the four nations has its own separate NHS that provides health services. Although the volume of services provided in the private sector remains small relative to service provision by NHS providers, it is growing.