Travel Health
Our Practice Nurse can provide advice regarding travel vaccinations. We would ask you to complete the travel questionnaire for each patient below and send this into the Practice.
Ideally this should be completed 6 weeks before or as soon as you have a your travel date so that we have enough time to review which vaccinations may be required and to book an appointment with us as some vaccinations may require a course.
Once your form has been reviewed we will contact you and book an appointment with our Practice Nurse.
Travel vaccinations that are available on the NHS are provided free of charge to all our patients but we cannot provide these services to any patients that are registered as 'Temporary Residents'. Some vaccinations are not an NHS Service and we will advise you on this once we have made an assessment and advise if any payment will be due.
Malaria tablets can be purchased over the counter at your local pharmacy.
Further Travel Information
The following websites will give you additional travel advice
Travel Health for information of vaccinations available on NHS
MASTA for private vaccination clinics
Gov.uk for specific country travel advice
GHIC to apply for your free European Health Insurance Card
Travelling Abroad
By law, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for the medical care of patients when they leave the UK. People traveling within Europe are advised to carry an authorised European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) at all times and this gives entitlement to reduced cost (and sometimes free) medical treatment. Patients should be advised to check specific entitlements prior to travel.
- For patients who will be out of the country for less than 3 months, it is reasonable to provide sufficient medicines for an existing condition (i.e. asthma, diabetes)
- For patients leaving the country for more than 3 months, they should be advised to register with a local doctor for their continuing medical needs. It is reasonable for GPs to provide sufficient medication to give patients time to do this.
GPs are not required by their Terms of Service to provide prescriptions for the treatment of a condition that is not present and may arise while the patient is abroad. Persons who have left the UK, or who are intending to leave the UK, for more than 3 months are not normally allowed to continue to be registered with a practice.
The NHS accepts responsibility for supplying ongoing medication for temporary periods abroad of up to 3 months. If a person is going to be abroad for more than three months then all that the patient is entitled to at NHS expense is a sufficient supply of his/her regular medication in order to get to their destination, where they should then find an alternative supply of that medication.
Page created: 25 April 2023